Julian Lennon, Musician and Photographer
Today, my guest is Julian Lennon, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, photographer, documentarian, philanthropist and New York Times best-selling author.
His fine art photography began in 2010 with his debut exhibit, “Timeless,” at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City.
Since then, Julian has exhibited works across the U.S. and in several countries worldwide including Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Japan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. His upcoming Exhibit is Whispers – A Julian Lennon Retrospective with Le Stanze della Fotografia, a joint initiative by Marsilio Arte and Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
In 2020, he became the inaugural photographer featured in the prestigious Aston Martin Residences in Miami. In 2021, he partnered with Portia De Rossi’s General Public Art to bring a collection of his photography to Restoration Hardware. Julian’s first-ever coffee table photography book titled Life’s Fragile Moments is a compilation of visually striking images that span over two decades of Julian’s unique life, career, adventures, and philanthropic efforts.
A noted philanthropist, Julian founded the non-profit The White Feather Foundation in 2007 to help preserve Indigenous Cultures. Since then, the organization has expanded to help projects worldwide in education, health, clean water and the environment.
In 2015, in honor of his late mother, he launched The Cynthia Lennon Scholarship for Girls. Since its inception, it has awarded 55 scholarships to underprivileged girls across Africa, the U.K. and the U.S. In 2020, Julian was named a Peace Laureate by UNESCO.
In this candid conversation, Julian shared the real stories behind his unexpected transition into photography, his creative process, and capturing historical moments.
1. Playing Photography by Ear. Julian revealed that his journey into photography began accidentally when he edited photos for a charity single cover without letting the original photographer know. Approaching the medium much like he plays music—by ear and through trial and error—he soon showed celebrity photographer Timothy White his vast, personal collection of cloud photos. He had taken these photos during his travels as a way to find total peace and reflection, and White helped him curate the best images into his very first exhibition.
2. U2 and a Nerve-Wracking Debut. While preparing his first exhibition of “painterly” clouds, Julian was invited by The Edge to photograph U2 during their rehearsals. Acting as a timid “fly on the wall,” he captured gritty rock-and-roll images that provided a stark contrast to his peaceful clouds in the gallery space. Despite his immense fear that the press would crucify him because of his “rock and roll royalty” background, his debut exhibition received stellar reviews and inspired him to fully pursue his new artistic dream.
3. Curating a Massive Exhibition. For his first major photography book and a massive 157-image exhibition in Venice, Julian faced the grueling task of condensing extensive global collections—such as paring down 40 images of life in Cuba or Istanbul into just four essential shots. To manage the immense scale of the gallery, he used a millimeter-exact virtual model to size every piece perfectly, deliberately placing his signature cloud images between heavier subjects to give his audience a chance to breathe.
4. A Grace Kelly Epiphany. Detailing his organic, post-production-heavy process, Julian shared the intense story of photographing Princess Charlene of Monaco just 10 minutes before her historic wedding. After talking her through her severe nerves, he reviewed his shots and used clever editing to remove her cigarette and desaturate her champagne so it looked like fizzy water. The result was a stunning, 1950s-style black-and-white image that immediately made him realize he had channeled Princess Grace Kelly.
