Legend in the Lens: 20 Awesome + Inspiring Images of Bob Marley

Words by Jesse Serwer and Michael Watson

Bob Marley isn’t just the greatest reggae singer of all time, he’s also the most photogenic. In just about every shot you can find of the singer, who was born 70 years ago today, his presence leaps off the page or screen. Marley is by no means the only creative genius to exhibit this sort of magnetism in still images, but the sheer number of brilliant Marley photos is astounding when you consider the timeline, years before the Internet, as well as the short span, of his career.

Among those who were fortunate enough to capture Marley in moments both intimate and public were several photographers whose careers have been largely defined by their work with the singer, like Lee Jaffe, the part-time Wailers member who documented the group throughout the ’70s, and Dennis Morris, who was 16 when Marley handpicked him to shoot him for the Natty Dread album. For David Burnett, who photographed Marley for Time magazine and Rolling Stone in the mid ’70s before gaining renown for his images of the Iranian Revolution, Marley was one of many assignments in an illustrious career. Still, his work documenting Marley proved significant enough that Burnett published a book, Soul Rebel, featuring the more than 200 images he shot of Marley, in 2008. Earlier this week, these same images went on on display at New York’s Spur Tree Lounge, in a show also entitled Soul Rebel.

Instead of devoting our attention to Bob’s music as we usually do on this day, this year we thought we’d turn our attention to this astounding body of images. Along with writer and Marley expert Michael “Jah Raver” Watson of the Midnight Raver Blog, we’ve gathered a few of our favorite images. Scroll through them below, and visit the websites of the featured photographers to see more of their Marley shots and purchase prints.

Click here to scroll through the images.

San Francisco, October 1973. Photo: Lee Jaffe.

This photo of Bob by friend Lee Jaffe was taken the morning after a stunning performance at San Francisco’s Matrix Club while the Wailers were on tour in support of the Burnin’ LP. —Midnight Raver

Esther Anderson and Bob Marley embracing in Trinidad, 1973. Photo: Esther Anderson

Model and actress turned filmmaker Esther Anderson was the only one of Marley’s photographers (that we know of at least) to know her subject intimately. Here, the two embrace in a timer-aided self-portrait during a promotional visit to Trinidad with Chris Blackwell in 1973, shortly after The Wailers signed to Island Records. —LargeUp

Westmoreland, Jamaica, 1974. Photo: Lee Jaffe.

A timeless photo by Jaffe that captures the true essence of Marley. Not the reggae superstar we all know and love, but a simple man sitting under a tree reading his Bible. —Midnight Raver

Natty Dread, 1974. Photo: Dennis Morris

Talent recognizes talent. That’s what happened when Bob Marley met Dennis Morris, who was just 16 at the time, in 1974, taking the young photographer on the road and encouraging the younger man’s career forward as his own was taking flight. This image is from the Natty Dread cover shoot, one of the first of countless shoots the two would embark on together. —LargeUp

With the Jackson 5 at 56 Hope Road, April 1975. Photo: Lee Jaffe

Jaffe took this shot during the Jackson 5’s visit to Bob’s home at 56 Hope Road in Kingston (now the Bob Marley Museum, site of today’s 70th birthday celebrations) before their show with the Wailers at Jamaica’s National Stadium. Bob, as usual, is the center of attention, while Michael Jackson, second from right in pinstriped shirt and afro, appears pensive and aloof. Read more about the meeting between two of the greatest musical talents of modern times in last week’s Throwback Thursdays post. —LargeUp

Schaeffer Music Festival, June 1975. Photo: Steve Emberton

Held at the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park, NYC, between 1968 and 1976, CBGB founder Hilly Kristal and promoter Ron Delsener’s Schaefer Music Festival was a famed concert series that served as the precursor to today’s Central Park SummerStage events. Steve Emberton took this gritty shot during Marley’s June 1975 appearance, which drew 15,000 to a space suited for less than half that many. —LargeUp

Natty Dreads, Kingston 1976. Photographer: David Burnett

Photographer David Burnett followed Bob Marley on separate assignments for Time and Rolling Stone, some 200 of which were collected in his 2008 book, Soul Rebel. This shot, titled “Natty Dreads” by the artist, is currently on display as part of Anastasia Photo Gallery’s “Soul Rebel” show at SpurTree in New York City. —LargeUp

National Heroes Park, Kingston, December 5, 1976. Photo: Alex Webb

Marley bravely performs in front of 80,000 people at the Smile Jamaica concert just two days after being shot in an assassination attempt. A performance for the ages. —Midnight Raver

Outside Marylebone Courthouse, 1976. Photo: Neil Kenlock

Marley in good spirits outside the Marylebone Magistrates Court in London, where he was found guilty and fined £50 for possessing cannabis. —LargeUp

Jah Rastafari, Hope Road 1976. Photo: David Burnett

Another shot from David Burnett, this one was taken at 56 Hope Road for Burnett’s Time feature on Marley, and is currently on display as part of his “Soul Rebel” show in NYC. —LargeUp

Sound Check, Exodus Tour 1977. Photo: David Burnett

This Burnett shot, taken in a soundcheck during 1977’s Exodus Tour, manages to capture Marley’s essence without our even seeing his face. —LargeUp

Football in Holland, 1976. Photo: David Burnett

Another shot from the Exodus tour, this one shows Bob indulging in his beloved game of soccer with crew during a stop in Holland.

Psychedelic Bob. Photo: Roberto Rabbane.

Rock and fashion photographer Roberto Rabbane, known for his photos of the Grateful Dead, took this psychedelic portrait of Bob. —LargeUp

One Love Peace Concert, Kingston, April, 1978. Photo: Ebet Roberts

In one of his bravest and most symbolic moments, Marley unites Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and opposition leader Edward Seaga on stage at the One Love Peace Concert in 1978. New York lenswoman Ebet Roberts was one of several pro photographers who documented this historic Jamaican concert, coming away with the night’s most prized shot. —LargeUp

Marley at the Airport in Ibiza, June 1978. Photo: Francesc Fabregas

Today, Ibiza is known as one of the world’s hotbeds for techno music. But one of the most talked-about events to have ever happened on the Spanish island, to this date, was the one by Bob Marley and the Wailers on June 28, 1978. Local photographer Francesc Fabregas captured this shot of Marley after he arrived at the island’s only airport. There’s even a movement to re-name the square where the show took place after Bob Marley. —LargeUp

Bob, Peter and Mick backstage at the Palladium, NYC, 1978. Photo: Michael Putland

Everyone knows this image of Bob, Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger grinning ear to ear. If you went to college (any college) the widely-sold poster version of it was probably on the wall of your dorm room, or the dorm room of someone you know. —LargeUp

Bob Marley with Ziggy and youth, Kingston, 1979. Photo: Lindsay Donald

Lindsay Donald took some of the best photos of Bob, here taking advantage of another opportunity to be the father he never had. —Midnight Raver

At Harvard Stadium, Boston, July 21, 1979. Photographer unknown.

“If anybody can cut through the special American brand of cynicism and make people feel good because they are one in thousands instead of omnipotent, it will be Bob Marley,” wrote the review in the Harvard Crimson covering Marley’s appearance at the Amandla Festival (which you can watch in full here) held at that school’s stadium in summer 1979. This image seems to bear that out.

Los Angeles, October 1979. Photo: Chris Walters

Bob signing copies of the Survival album at an appearance at the original Tower Records in Hollywood. —LargeUp

Bob Marley, Gabon, Africa, 1980. Photo: Bruce Talamon.

My favorite photo of Bob. The man who never had a father “Bend Down Low” to speak truth and rights to Gabonese youth. —Midnight Raver