The Photography

Maximum Who

Maximum Who includes shots of some legendary performances by the band during the Sixties: the embryonic shows at the Goldhawk Club; recording at Ready Steady Go! and at the Duke of York's Barracks for American TV; live at the Richmond Jazz Festival and much, much more.

The Who are shown in the recording studio in the early days with Shel Talmy and Glyn Johns and later when recording Tommy. Rehearsal sessions are also pictured while more private moments are captured in photographs of Pete, Roger and John in their London homes, with their beloved cars, and in the quest for Mod clothes in Chelsea boutiques.

'Colin Jones could easily produce a book on his own on the Sixties. This book would not look the same without him. I have used a lot of his shots because they have never been seen and are the most evocative of the period that I've seen. They remind me of looking at an old black and white television and evoke a stark and often harsh vision of an almost Dickensian London.' - Ross Halfin

'I have fantastic memories of The Who, Pete leaping higher into the air than seemed possible, Roger throwing his microphone out of sight into the darkness above the stage, and then catching it. John impassive and, of course, the one and only Keith Moon. The Who sang "Hope we die before we get old", they didn't, and I can't wait to see them again.' - Peter Blake

The Photographers

Maximum Who

Tony Gale

After leaving grammar school Tony intended to take a History degree, but events took another turn. His father, well-known for his action sports photography, was running the Pictorial Press photo agency and called him in to help with the darkroom. This was in the early Sixties, when the pungent smell of chemicals and continual frustration with the workings of giant photo print dryers was all part of the fun. For people like him, who actually enjoyed the pop scene, it became increasingly frustrating covering the music scene, and he opted for more serious photography.

Colin Jones

Colin's first career was as a dancer with the Royal Ballet, but whilst on tour in 1959 he began to take photographs seriously as a way of documenting the scenes he saw around him. He was particularly influenced by the Hungarian photographer Michael Peto (author of Now These Days Are Gone). Peto suggested that Colin show his pictures to Dennis Hackett, the Picture Editor at The Observer. To his surprise, a few weeks later he received a telegram offering him a six-month contract.

Chris Morphet

Chris and Pete Townshend first met when Chris was the singer and musician for a local rock band of art students from Leicester College of Art. When his group played on the same bill as The Who, Chris became friendly with Pete. He visited him frequently in his flat in London and at various of The Who's performances, where he began to photograph the band. He now works as a well-respected broadcast video cameraman, mainly making documentary films for television. His work includes the series Trouble at the Top.

Dominique Tarlé

Dominique's interest in rock photography developed early in life. At the age of fifteen he borrowed his father's camera, walked into the Olympia music hall in Paris after school and from then on regularly took photographs in front of the stage. It was the Sixties, a time when an enthusiast could do such a thing without the need for a photopass. Along with The Who he captured on camera many of the main groups of the time, amongst them The Beatles, The Animals, The Kinks and The Rolling Stones. He is author of the now legendary Genesis Limited Edition, Exile.

David Wedgbury

David was the staff photographer at Decca Records. He eventually gave up photography to become an artist. Sadly, most of the sessions from the first album that he shot were lost by Kit Lambert. All that remain are shown in Maximum Who. He died in 1998.

'David Wedgbury photographed the band for their debut album My Generation but also provides some of the earliest shots included here, catching the band in their early Shepherd's Bush haunt of the Goldhawk Club.' Ross Halfin

Baron Wolman

In 1967, Wolman joined Jann Wenner to become the first photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. During his three-year tenure there, his lens captured the explosion of rock music, and his images were featured on numerous early covers and on on the pages of countless other books and magazines.

The Limited Edition

Maximum Who

Each copy is quarter-bound in blue leather with silk-screened red cloth and gilt page edging, and is housed in a cloth-bound slipcase with silk-screened Who artwork, gold foiling and leather trim. Lovingly created to immaculate standards of editorial, design and printing, Maximum Who, like every edition by Genesis Publications, is a book to be treasured forever. 

Limited to 1,500 numbered and copies - each signed by the Who photographer and guest editor, Ross Halfin - this large format volume is produced to the very highest standards on 200gsm matt art paper with gilt page edges. The images and text are printed in monochrome and full colour with image varnishing. The front cover is silkscreened with the famous Who logo and Mod target. The book, a supreme example of the printer's art, is enclosed in an elegant slipcase.