The Artists Center in Palm Desert is letting photography take center stage.<\/p>\n
Running concurrently from Wednesday, March 11, through Sunday, April 5, the Artists Council is presenting Desert Rocks, featuring photos by award-winning photographers Jimmy Steinfeldt and Harry Langdon, along with Through the Lens, with 115 photographs by Artists Council members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a show within a show, which makes it more exciting,\u201d said Ulrike Maria, board chair of the Artists Council. \u201cWe decided to make it special this year by including legendary music and celebrity photographers Harry Langdon and Jimmy Steinfeldt.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Langdon has a client list including Cher, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Serena Williams, Dolly Parton, Frank Sinatra, Richard Burton, Diana Ross, Jane Fonda, Neil Diamond, Brian Wilson, Joan Rivers, Sophia Loren, Boy George, Marie Osmond, Steve Martin, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Janet Jackson, plus doctors, authors and behind-the-scenes music executives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best picture for me is one in which the person lets you see a bit of his or her spirit,\u201d Langdon said. \u201cIt gives the picture a different edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
This knowledge came to him when he was 7 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI traveled to Arizona with my parents, taking photos of landscapes and these charming towns,\u201d he said. \u201cIn one town, Native Americans were standing out in storefronts, and when they saw the tourists walk through with their cameras, they grabbed the children and ran around the corner. I asked my mom and dad, \u2018Why were they hiding?\u2019 \u2018They believe you were stealing their soul through the camera.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a profound realization for Langdon\u2014the idea that everyone he photographs has a spirit.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cvindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Langdon2.jpeg?resize=711%2C1024&ssl=1\")
Harry Langdon.\n<\/div>\n\u201cThere\u2019s a human being who walks in the door; it may be George Clooney, or Julio Iglesias or somebody, and I get the feeling for their spirit,\u201d he said. \u201cI know that it might sound kind of corny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of celebrities\u2019 distrust of paparazzi, cameras are not always welcome, Langdon said\u2014and some of them come with outsized egos. He told a story about photographing Richard Burton while the legendary actor was performing in Camelot. While Broadway executives arrived on time, Burton did not.<\/p>\n
\u201cBurton booked at 1 o\u2019clock in the afternoon, and then 2 o\u2019clock came, and Richard hadn\u2019t shown up,\u201d Langdon said. \u201cThen we heard this banging and kicking at our front door of our big studio, and I thought, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s Richard. Oh, no, now I\u2019m going to deal with an angry dude who I\u2019ve never met.\u2019 So I got to the door; he had this slick English accent, (and he) barged in and started yelling at these two men. He said, \u2018You bastards didn\u2019t have the courtesy of sending me a limousine to bring me here!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI rushed over. I gripped his hand, which was trembling with anger. He was so pissed. I tried to swish him away from the two guys who were spending a lot of money on him, and I dragged Richard into the dressing room. And I said, \u2018Richard, we have to do a good photo session today.\u2019 I kind of reminded him of why he was here, and then all of a sudden, he calmed down. His face went from red to a normal color.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank Sinatra could also be moody, but he and Langdon were close and respected each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cSinatra had some dark people who were surrounding him,\u201d he said. \u201cHe would have security guards at photo sessions, and \u2026 the guards were watching me to see if I\u2019d get out of hand, and some were watching my crew behind me. My assistant was surprised to see that one had an Uzi tucked under his belt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why the security? \u201cSinatra would get threats, and not everybody liked him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Langdon\u2014the only child of the late vaudeville and silent-screen comedian Harry Langdon Sr.\u2014said he always been on a mission to capture images of these legends and leave a record of them behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a real honor for me to take pictures of these people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cvindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Steinfeldt2.jpeg?resize=780%2C1016&ssl=1\")
Jimmy Steinfeldt.\n<\/div>\nNow 91 years old and still working, you can often find Langdon bicycling around La Quinta Cove or talking to his friend, photographer, guitarist and songwriter, Jimmy Steinfeldt, who lives nearby.<\/p>\n
Steinfeldt has photographed icons including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Prince, Miles Davis, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan and Radiohead. In 1998 and 2007, industry players named him Photographer of the Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards. His photographs have appeared in many publications, including Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, Spin and Time magazine. His famous 1997 photo of Radiohead will be on display at the exhibit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of cool looking back knowing that I photographed them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Born in Minneapolis, Steinfeldt graduated with a bachelor\u2019s degree in business management from San Diego State University. After college, he traveled across the country armed with his first real camera\u2014a $100 Minolta.<\/p>\n
On that trip, he realized that he had an eye for composition. \u201cIt was fun and I was pretty good at it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Stevie Nicks offered him breakthrough. He used a Kodak that had just come out with a special film that was designed to shoot in low light, which made a big difference.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cvindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Radiohead-by-Jimmy-Steinfeldt.jpeg?resize=780%2C586&ssl=1\")
Jimmy Steinfeldt\u2019s 1997 photo of Radiohead. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was standing in my seat taking pictures,\u201d he said, \u201cWhen I got the film back, there were a few that were great. The experience was fun and exciting. Then I learned how to adjust my camera to shoot a moving musician, and I just got better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his best experience was photographing Stevie Ray Vaughan, who is considered one of the best guitarists of all time. He died in a helicopter crash in 1990, at 35 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was one of the nicest guys I ever met and one of the greatest guitar players ever,\u201d he said. \u201cHe posed patiently for me while I took several portraits that turned out so well that my guitar hero, Joe Walsh, bought a print from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The self-taught photographer cites the great fashion photographer Richard Avedon and cinematographer Karl Freund as his inspirations. He said he encountered a lot of drugs in rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, but they never interested him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love a good cocktail. A martini works, but that\u2019s about the extent of my imbibing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Steinfeldt moved to the desert three years ago, after 25 years in Los Angeles, wanting to decompress.<\/p>\n
\u201cA number of my friends moved to the Coachella Valley and were happy with their moves,\u201d he said. \u201cI had vacationed here over the years and was familiar and comfortable with it. I\u2019ve been photographing entertainers\u2014musicians, especially\u2014my whole career, and the desert is filled with \u2018my people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Through the Lens, which includes the Desert Rocksphotos by Jimmy Steinfeldt and Harry Langdon, will be on display from Wednesday, March 11, through Sunday, April 5, at the Artists Center, at 72567 Highway 111, in Palm Desert. The opening reception will take place from 5 to 9 p.m., Thursday, March 12. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.artistscouncil.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source cvindependent.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Artists Center in Palm Desert is letting photography take center stage. Running concurrently from Wednesday, March 11, through Sunday, April 5, the Artists Council is presenting Desert Rocks, featuring photos by award-winning photographers Jimmy Steinfeldt and Harry Langdon, along with Through the Lens, with 115 photographs by Artists Council members. \u201cIt\u2019s a show within […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2314602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[448419,307568,448420,428864,421364],"class_list":["post-2314601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-artists-council","tag-featured","tag-harry-langdon","tag-jimmy-steinfeldt","tag-through-the-lens"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Spirits-Captured-The-Artists-Center-Highlights-Photos-by-Its-Members\u2014and.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2314601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2314603,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314601\/revisions\/2314603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2314602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2314601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2314601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2314601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}