This dramatic 1969 portrait of Mick Jagger accompanied the feature “Head Stone,” published at a moment when the Rolling Stones were moving into one of the most important periods of their career. The close crop, heavy shadow and almost completely black background reduce the image to Jagger’s face, giving it a stark, confrontational quality that feels very different from a conventional celebrity portrait.
November 1969 was especially eventful for the Stones. The band was touring the United States with new guitarist Mick Taylor, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on November 23, and released Let It Bleed in the U.S. on November 28. The album included “Gimme Shelter,” “Midnight Rambler” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” placing this portrait right at the transition between the Stones of the 1960s and the darker, harder-edged period that followed.
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