“Thom Lukas’ photography is among the most sincere, intimate and passionate views on that fleeting time that were the Sixties: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Doors, the Fillmore East.While all of this was coming and going in the blink of an eye, Thom Lukas had it in his viewfinder, and eternalized it in its purest, most spontaneous form.
His photos of The Who, Led Zeppelin or Jeff Beck Group are a precious keepsake of an innocence that would soon be left behind by these bands, before definitely outliving the Sixties and reaching superstardom, to never look back.
I can say that my book “The Who – Concert Memories from the Classic Years, 1964 to 1976” (Schiffer Publishing, 2022) started with meeting Thom and seeing his proof sheets. I immediately knew I wanted him on board. His photography was exactly what I wanted my book to reflect: an exclusive backstage pass to those times.” Edoardo Genzolini, author.
The Adventures of
a Young Camera
“After buying a secondhand 35mm pro camera when I was fifteen, I started shooting some of the best bands ever, at the newly opened Fillmore East.” - Thom Lukas
“In the summer before my sophomore year of high school, I started going to rock concerts at the Village Theater and the Anderson Theater in the East Village. I also began getting backstage and meeting rock stars: The Who, The Byrds, Cream and The Doors. The thing is, my classmates didn’t believe my extraordinary tales. So I decided to buy a camera to document what was happening to me.” - Thom Lukas
New Jeff Beck Group singer, Rod Stewart gasped in amazement and said that the photos Thom took the night before at his band’s Fillmore East U.S. debut were the best Jeff Beck Group pictures that he had ever seen. The Gorham Hotel, just south of Central Park, was where many upcoming British rock bands stayed. So, thats where Thom decided to stake out, and as luck would have it…
High school student Thom photographed Led Zeppelin when they were the opening act for Iron Butterfly. Later that same year, just two weeks before the Woodstock Festival, Thom was invited onstage to shoot Led Zeppelin as full fledged headliners. His good fortune was the result of having a cover photo of Jeff Beck on the current issue of Jazz & Pop Magazine.
Janis Joplin sang a Big Brother song from the Fillmore East stage while staring directly into the camera lens of sixteen year old Thom who was ticketless and kneeling down in a front aisle. The ushers, who acted as security, ignored him. Who knows why. Lucky Thom.
Lukas was at the Fillmore East in June, 1968 to photograph the U S debut of The Jeff Beck Group featuring a very nervous Rod Stewart. Thom witnessed and photographed the infamous Singer Bowl Jeff Beck Group and Led Zeppelin onstage jam session. An iconic shot of Beck pointing his Les Paul at Robert Plant’s crotch appeared in the Beckology box set and in the Genesis book Beck01.
It was March, 1968. Thom Lukas was caught trying to sneak into a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert, by the New York City Police, and rescued from them by Jimi Hendrix himself. This was the first time that Thom photographed a rock star. A photo of Jimi talking to Thom, and the other kids caught by the cops that night at Hunter College, appears on the bottom left inside cover of the Electric Ladyland LP. It was taken by Jimi’s photographer friend David Sygall.
Thom was once mistaken by NBC Building security for new Stones’ guitarist Mick Taylor and joined the Rolling Stones for the 65 floor elevator ride of a lifetime. He had cut his high school classes that day, never expecting this amazing outcome.
The sixteen year old freelance photographer felt the dark energy of Doors' Jim Morrison up close in their backstage dressing room at the Singer Bowl while there was a documentary film being shot.
Seventeen year old Thom spent an hour photographing Cambridge intellectuals, Roger Waters and David Gilmour in a Times Square hotel room, while Pink Floyd were being interviewed during their Ummagumma tour. He was a stringer, on an assignment from Rock Magazine. Thom could luckily be a fly on the wall because the group simply ignored him and focused on the interviewer, who seemed to be more of their peer.
Who singer, Roger Daltrey invited Thom, who happened to have a press pass from Hullabaloo Magazine, to take some backstage pictures when the Who opened for the Doors at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Queens, near Shea Stadium. It was the summer of 1968 and the pre Tommy Who were just a cult band.
“Thom Lukas’ photography is among the most sincere, intimate and passionate views on that fleeting time that were the Sixties: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Doors, the Fillmore East.While all of this was coming and going in the blink of an eye, Thom Lukas had it in his viewfinder, and eternalized it in its purest, most spontaneous form.
His photos of The Who, Led Zeppelin or Jeff Beck Group are a precious keepsake of an innocence that would soon be left behind by these bands, before definitely outliving the Sixties and reaching superstardom, to never look back.
I can say that my book “The Who – Concert Memories from the Classic Years, 1964 to 1976” (Schiffer Publishing, 2022) started with meeting Thom and seeing his proof sheets. I immediately knew I wanted him on board. His photography was exactly what I wanted my book to reflect: an exclusive backstage pass to those times.” Edoardo Genzolini, author.
The Adventures of
a Young Camera
“After buying a secondhand 35mm pro camera when I was fifteen, I started shooting some of the best bands ever, at the newly opened Fillmore East.” - Thom Lukas
“In the summer before my sophomore year of high school, I started going to rock concerts at the Village Theater and the Anderson Theater in the East Village. I also began getting backstage and meeting rock stars: The Who, The Byrds, Cream and The Doors. The thing is, my classmates didn’t believe my extraordinary tales. So I decided to buy a camera to document what was happening to me.” - Thom Lukas
New Jeff Beck Group singer, Rod Stewart gasped in amazement and said that the photos Thom took the night before at his band’s Fillmore East U.S. debut were the best Jeff Beck Group pictures that he had ever seen. The Gorham Hotel, just south of Central Park, was where many upcoming British rock bands stayed. So, thats where Thom decided to stake out, and as luck would have it…
High school student Thom photographed Led Zeppelin when they were the opening act for Iron Butterfly. Later that same year, just two weeks before the Woodstock Festival, Thom was invited onstage to shoot Led Zeppelin as full fledged headliners. His good fortune was the result of having a cover photo of Jeff Beck on the current issue of Jazz & Pop Magazine.
Janis Joplin sang a Big Brother song from the Fillmore East stage while staring directly into the camera lens of sixteen year old Thom who was ticketless and kneeling down in a front aisle. The ushers, who acted as security, ignored him. Who knows why. Lucky Thom.
Lukas was at the Fillmore East in June, 1968 to photograph the U S debut of The Jeff Beck Group featuring a very nervous Rod Stewart. Thom witnessed and photographed the infamous Singer Bowl Jeff Beck Group and Led Zeppelin onstage jam session. An iconic shot of Beck pointing his Les Paul at Robert Plant’s crotch appeared in the Beckology box set and in the Genesis book Beck01.
It was March, 1968. Thom Lukas was caught trying to sneak into a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert, by the New York City Police, and rescued from them by Jimi Hendrix himself. This was the first time that Thom photographed a rock star. A photo of Jimi talking to Thom, and the other kids caught by the cops that night at Hunter College, appears on the bottom left inside cover of the Electric Ladyland LP. It was taken by Jimi’s photographer friend David Sygall.
Thom was once mistaken by NBC Building security for new Stones’ guitarist Mick Taylor and joined the Rolling Stones for the 65 floor elevator ride of a lifetime. He had cut his high school classes that day, never expecting this amazing outcome.
The sixteen year old freelance photographer felt the dark energy of Doors' Jim Morrison up close in their backstage dressing room at the Singer Bowl while there was a documentary film being shot.
Seventeen year old Thom spent an hour photographing Cambridge intellectuals, Roger Waters and David Gilmour in a Times Square hotel room, while Pink Floyd were being interviewed during their Ummagumma tour. He was a stringer, on an assignment from Rock Magazine. Thom could luckily be a fly on the wall because the group simply ignored him and focused on the interviewer, who seemed to be more of their peer.
Who singer, Roger Daltrey invited Thom, who happened to have a press pass from Hullabaloo Magazine, to take some backstage pictures when the Who opened for the Doors at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Queens, near Shea Stadium. It was the summer of 1968 and the pre Tommy Who were just a cult band.