Success on Paper - Lynn Goldsmith Rocks the Photography World

Welcome to Success on Paper, our series highlighting businesses from around the country with at least one thing in common: Red River Paper. From architectural firms to printing retailers, companies that depend on impeccable paper quality and creative customer service are relying on RRP to help them present their work in beautiful, compelling ways.

Next up in the series: Photographer Lynn Goldsmith.

Music to the Eyes

Although Lynn Goldsmith has spent 50 years photographing celebrities from all facets of entertainment, she has a special way with musicians. To wit: She once danced with Michael Jackson to distract him from his shyness and re-wardrobed Bryan Adams when he showed up to a photo shoot in a green suit. “I don’t take pictures, I make them,” Lynn likes to say. She also made headlines last May when a seven-year court battle against the Andy Warhol Foundation went all the way to the Supreme Court. A 7-2 ruling found that an Andy Warhol portrait violated her copyright for her original photograph of the late musician Prince. As a true advocate for the creative industry around the world, Lynn endured a lengthy, costly, and emotionally wrenching court battle. “The fight was for all artists, but especially photographers,” relates her PR Director, Rachel Simon.

Enter Red River Paper

Lynn’s work has appeared on the pages of Life, Newsweek, Time, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, and more. Her customers are magazines, record labels, book publishers, film companies and collectors of limited edition fine art prints. Lynn was getting less than great results from another popular luster photo paper when a friend recommended RRP’s UltraPro Luster 300. “The UltraPro Luster 300 paper provided more depth in the blacks and a more appealing texture,” says Lynn, who uses the 44”x100” 3” core rolls to produce her fine art photo prints. Lynn’s Studio Manager, Brandon Greer, adds, “The weight of the [UltraPro Luster 300] paper is perfect and not as fragile post-printing as other papers we have used. We highly recommend it!”

See More of Lynn's Work

Featuring literally hundreds of celebrity portraits in studio and on location, Lynn’s website is eye candy for aficionados of pop culture and especially rock music. You’ll also find her photography books and links to news stories about her work. To learn about Lynn’s start in the business and her latest projects, read our Q&A below.

Enjoy our Q&A with Photographer Lynn Goldsmith…

How long have you been in business, and how did you get started?
My first published photo was in 1964, “The Feet of the Beatles.” After working as a photographer for over a decade, I was incorporated in 1980. Since then my photos have appeared in publications like Life, Newsweek, Time, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and others. Fifteen books of my photos have been published.

What makes your business unique?
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to journey into the nature of identity, beauty, stardom, and the human spirit as both my life adventure and my livelihood.

What is the most interesting project you’ve encountered in the course of your work?
A book of self portraits that questions what is real and what is imagined. It also questions what photography is.

In what ways does the business reflect your own personality?
I firmly believe that creativity is based on breaking limiting thought patterns. If you want to maximize your potential for living a full life, you need to bust through fear, take risks, and persistently work hard to reach your goals.

Is there a particular challenge Red River Paper helped you overcome or a goal they helped you meet?
The UltraPro Luster 300 was recommended to me by digital print wizard and friend Mac Holbert. We used the paper in our Epson SureColor P9000 44” printer, and I noticed a difference in our printing immediately. I had previously been using another popular luster photo paper but was getting unsatisfactory prints, especially when printing black and white. The UltraPro Luster 300 paper provided more depth in the blacks and a more appealing texture.

In fact, here are some shows I’ve used Red River Paper for:

• My show at Rockheim Museum in Trondheim, Norway
• We produced a few prints that were part of a Led Zeppelin show that took place June 8 at both the Los Angeles and New York locations.
• We also use this paper for all of images printed for my gallery here in Nashville, Rock and Roll Photo Gallery.

How can people purchase your products/services?
They can buy fine art prints from a number of galleries including one that I own, rockandrollphotogallery.com

Do you have any future growth, product launch, or event goals you’d like to share?
In fall 2023, Taschen book publishers will release my 16th book. This one is on Springsteen and the E Street Band from the “Darkness on The Edge of Town” period. I have a show of photographs of musicians in Trondheim, Norway, at The Rockheim, Norway’s national museum for popular music from the 1950s to the present. I am currently part of a group museum exhibition on Tina Turner in San Paolo, Brazil, and part of a Jean Michel Basquiat exhibition in Paris. With [publishing house] Rizzoli publishing, this year I released a book of photographs titled “Music in the 80s.”

All artwork and/or photographs used in this post are subject to copyright held by the featured artist.

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Last updated August 21, 2023

Original Publication Date: August 22, 2023

Article Last updated: October 16, 2023