Q & A: Professional photographer Barrie Wentzell gives a look into his career
By Quinn Olson on November 17, 2025
Barrie Wentzell was a photographer in London for many years, specializing in photographing up-and-coming musicians from 1965 until 1975. He worked for The Melody Maker in England during this time, taking pictures of The Beatles, Elton John, John Lennon and many more famous musicians as they navigated their careers.
I was able to interview Wentzell on his unique career and gain further insight into the profession of photography.
Q: What made you get into photography in the first place?
A: Purely an accident. In 1963, I left Maidstone Art School in Kent and came to London. I had a job in Soho, London, at an artistic, creative salon. Then that finished and I was home in Wimbledon, London, lying around and playing music, doing nothing and my mum said, “What do you want to do now? Do you wanna go back to art school?” And I said, “No, that’s done, I want to be a photographer.” Suddenly, it came out of the blue. I remembered I’d taken a picture once on a little Brownie camera. So my mum phoned up all the photographers in London through the Kelly’s directory and got me an interview with a few.
Q: How did you first start and work your way up to shooting bands and musicians?
A: I started out mixing chemicals, making tea, doing all the errands and learnt to print. They let me borrow a spy camera, and on weekends I went out taking my own pictures. I also went to the London School of Printing for a couple of years, taking evening classes. One of the teachers there said they could use someone to print their pictures and offered me the gig, so I ended up working for him. There was a lot of downtime, and he did a lot of theatre work. He let me do a lot of my own stuff and gave me passes to a lot of theatres. I managed to get into the BBC and photograph people like Count Basie and The Supremes. One picture I took of Diana Ross I sent in to The Melody Maker, and they gave me a call the next week asking if I’d like a photography job.
Q: What equipment were you using to shoot with back then?
A: I was using a Pentax Spotmatic. Most people were using Nikons since Pentax was screw mount, and sometimes you couldn’t tell where something was supposed to go. But they are very light cameras, and they were good workhorses. I went through a few of them. Some got battered or destroyed, but that was just part of the game. Occasionally, I had a mic stand with an umbrella on it too. I used that to bounce light off a wall to simulate daylight or window light.
Q: How would you describe your style of photography?
A: I don’t think there was a style. One great French photographer said all he did was go somewhere and wait. He said after a time, things will come together, a picture will appear, and snap, he’s got that magic moment. We were doing interviews and taking pictures of people like Jimi Hendrix or Pete Townshend with a 28 millimeter lens. I was so close to each person, you don’t have time for all that. It was all in the eyes and the light, I don’t know, somehow it happens. It was a connection between the two people through a lens, and something happens that works. You never know why. You don’t think about it, you just do it, it’s intuition.
Q: How did you make sure your subject was comfortable while shooting?
A: The simpler the gear, the better. With a big camera, you’re missing the spontaneity. That’s why that little Leica was great, because it fits in your pocket, take it out, click, and put it away again. You can’t do that so much anymore, I guess, but being invisible, that fly on the wall, is a great help, and to make people feel comfortable when they come to do a photoshoot, if it’s that setup. So is learning trust. The Melody Maker was looked upon as the Bible; musicians trusted us, including Roger Waters, who didn’t trust anybody or anything. There was an openness and honesty that was pretty unique compared to all the tabloids.
Q: How was the picture editing process different back then versus now?
A: Almost everything now is retouched or photoshopped or changed; nothing is real anymore. There were retouches back then, if you were doing larger negatives. Hollywood photographers used them a lot with blackouts and scratches. It would take all day to retouch a picture, but with Photoshop now, you just press a button. All I do when I scan stuff up or print them is take out scratches or dust spots. What I do on the computer is exactly what I do in my dark room to get the quality. I don’t want to take things out; it’s a great temptation, but it destroys the veracity.
Q: With all the famous musicians you’ve met throughout your career, is there any interaction that stands out to you as the most memorable?
A: The most baffling and intelligent was Frank Zappa. The most truthful was John Lennon. The most open-hearted and sweet was Jimi Hendrix. Pete Townshend was amazing, I think a lot of people actually.
Q: Do you ever miss photography, or are you happy with what you’re doing now?
A: I’m happier sort of helping others, do it, and I don’t have to do it. I’ve done my bit, and it’s up to younger people. Visually, it’s very hard these days to find an identity within the hodgepodge of everyone’s pictures. They all look the same thanks to technology. With cell phones, everyone can get a good picture or good quality. But it’s how you can put your individuality into that.
Q: Is there any advice you would give to somebody who wants to do something similar to your profession?
A: Don’t, get a proper job. I just don’t know how you would do that anymore. Here, there’s no music press, I don’t believe. But, you know, from a small idea, big things happen. That’s how a magazine like Rolling Stones started, from an idea… Keep practicing and have fun. Don’t do it for a living, do it because you like it, it’s a hobby or a passion.
Wentzell is releasing his first book titled Should’ve Been There… a collection of rock n’ roll photographs he took and how the photos came to be. The book comes out this November.