Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Terry O'Neill

Terry O’Neill, a photographer who captured much of the Sixties’ counterculture, as well as Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, has died aged 81.

O’Neill is reported to have passed away at his home last Saturday after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

“As one of the most iconic photographers of the last 60 years,” O’Neill’s representatives at Iconic Images write, “his legendary pictures will forever remain imprinted in our memories, as well as in our hearts and minds.”

O’Neill was one of the first people to shoot the Beatles.

“I was only 20, and the youngest photographer on Fleet Street,” The Guardian reports Terry to have said of the Fab Four. “It was obvious that John was the one with the personality, so I put him in the front.”

During the Seventies Terry, now one of the biggest names in British photography captured several stunning images of Led Zeppelin.

As such it may not come as too much of a surprise that Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has been one of the first artists to pay tribute.

When it comes to O’Neill’s work the Beatles and Led Zeppelin were but two of a multitude of figures captured on film.

Over the course of his life, O’Neill worked with public figures ranging from Nelson Mandela to Amy Winehouse.

He was also married to actor Faye Dunaway for three years.

Order a copy of Terry’s book of Led Zeppelin photography here.