Henry Diltz is both a folk musician and an award-winning music photographer. After moving to Los Angeles while still a member of the Modern Folk Quartet, Diltz began shooting images of his friends and fellow performers who lived in his Laurel Canyon neighborhood. His work soon attracted the eye of other musicians who needed publicity and album cover shots, so his subjects quickly expanded beyond his social circle.
His catalog includes a wide variety of musical legends such as the Doors, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, the Eagles, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Keith Richards, America, Steppenwolf, James Taylor, Jimi Hendrix, and Paul & Linda McCartney. He is perhaps best known for the iconic Morrison Hotel cover for The Doors and Crosby Stills & Nash’s debut album cover.
He has taken thousands of publicity shots that have appeared inside and on the cover of various publications including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, LIFE, People, Rolling Stone, High Times, and Billboard. He was the official photographer at Woodstock, and the Monterey and Miami Music Festivals, and his photographs appear on over 250 album covers.
His photograph of Tina Turner was chosen for the cover of Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present (2009) the book commemorating the exhibition of the same name presented by The Brooklyn Museum from October 2009-January 2010. This exhibition was one of the first major museum exhibitions to celebrate and feature rock ’n’ roll photography as “real” art.
In 2023, the Recording Academy honored Henry Diltz with the Trustees Award, recognizing him for his significant contribution to the music industry. He was the second photographer to ever receive this award.
He is still active with his photography and lives in Southern California.