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With a career in photography that started in high school and continues to the present, Neal Preston is one of the most highly respected photographers in the history of rock-and-roll. Through his photography Preston has made a significant contribution to the pop-culture history of a generation.
For years, his photographs have appeared in every conceivable media outlet, on the covers and pages of hundreds of world-class magazines, newspapers and books, on television shows, in feature films and documentaries, on Broadway show programs and billboards, in print and electronic advertisements and on vinyl and CD/DVD packages including shot live performance CD and DVD covers for Springsteen, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss and dozens of other bands.
With a body of work spanning almost four decades, Preston was, and still is, is one of the lucky few allowed inside, behind the “velvet rope” – touring with superstars and capturing the entire experience on film.
He has worked closely with rock royalty such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna and hundreds of other luminaries. His archive stands as one of the music industry’s single most extensive collections of photographs. Preston was the key contributor to VH-1’s acclaimed “Behind the Music” documentary series, providing over one thousand still photos used in over 50 episodes.
Although Preston is probably best known in rock circles as Led Zeppelin’s U.S. tour photographer in the mid-1970’s, his rock-and-roll travels have taken him around the globe many times. He has visited Russia with Billy Joel, Europe and Japan with Bruce Springsteen, China with Wham! South Africa with Whitney Houston, Canada with Heart and Mexico and South America with Queen.
In 1985, Preston was chosen as one of the official photographers for the Bob Geldof’s “Live Aid” concert at London’s Wembley Stadium. In 1988 his association with Bruce Springsteen helped land him the job as official tour photographer for Amnesty International’s legendary “Conspiracy of Hope” tour, a 5-week world trek with Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Tracy Chapman appearing along with Springsteen and his E-Street Band.
But Preston has done much more than just shoot musicians. In 1980 he began a 30 year-long relationship with People Magazine and to this day remains the most-assigned photographer in the history of that magazine, with almost 700 shoot days to his credit. As a major contributing photographer, he was the first to shoot People spreads on many iconic celebrities including Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez and Charlize Theron. In addition to dozens of People covers, Preston has shot covers on assignment for Newsweek, Time, and Rolling Stone and countless others
A true sports fanatic, Preston has worked at six Olympic Games, from the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia to the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. Preston has also photographed many other major sporting events including heavyweight title fights, the World Series, NBA and NFL playoff games, the US Track and Field trials, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and World Cup soccer matches. His sports photos have been published worldwide in such magazines as TV Guide, ESPN Magazine, Paris Match, and Sports Illustrated.
After joining the International Cinematographers Guild in 1999 , Preston served as both the “unit” and “special” photographer for the feature films “Almost Famous”, “Vanilla Sky”, and “Elizabethtown” (all directed by his long-time friend Cameron Crowe). Besides creating the poster art for those films, Preston also created key materials used in the feature films “ *61”, “Singles”, “Laurel Canyon” and “Pick of Destiny”. He has also directed various music-related video projects, including a live performance video for Stevie Nicks and a 90-minute documentary on Alice Cooper.
In May of 2006 he began publicly exhibiting his music photography for the first time with a one-man show at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City. That successful show was followed by a show later that year at the Morrison’s Los Angeles location. The L.A. show was highlighted by an opening night VIP fundraiser benefiting the Stevie Nicks Soldier’s Angel Foundation. That gala (with Ms. Nicks co-hosting) raised over $25,000 from print sales in one evening. In June of 2010 Preston cemented a relationship with the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, becoming the first photographer invited to officially mount a one-man exhibition of his work there.
Preston’s work has been displayed at such elite institutions as the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His iconic photograph of Freddie Mercury is part of the permanent photo exhibit at the new Wembley Stadium in London. His work is even included in the permanent collection of the new Yankee Stadium.