Hill Inks Deal for Iconic Rock Photos

Mill Valley photographer Suki Hill had a bird’s eye view of some of the most iconic moments in Bay Area music history.

But while her portfolio includes gripping photos of the likes of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, among others, those shots haven’t been readily available to rock fans.

Until now, that is.

Hill, whose remains on the side of , recently inked a deal with Wolfgang’s Vault, the Internet firm that owns the archive of the late and legendary rock promoter Bill Graham, to sell her images on the site.

“I am the worst marketer,” Hill said. “Many of these photos are just sitting here and there’s a demand out there for them, so I decided to connect with Wolfgang’s.”

Hill’s catalog on Wolfgang’s Vault includes 35 photos and spans just three years of Bay Area concerts, but it’s loaded with dramatic shots from landmark moments like the arrival of Beatlemania on the West Coast. Hill was there for the Beatles’ show at the Cow Palace in the summer of 1964 that served as the opening night of their first-ever concert tour of North America.

Hill made it to massive events like the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, snapping photos of moments like Janis Joplin tearing her heart out singing “Ball and Chain” and Jimi Hendrix wailing “Wild Thing.” She was also at much smaller events, like the opening party for the original North Face store in North Beach, where the Grateful Dead performed.

Hill was a frequent presence at Graham’s legendary Fillmore, including a star-studded party Graham threw in January 1967 to thank his patrons and artists.

“It was the 60s and I was in my 20s and it was just fun,” Hill. “We were ‘regulars’ on Friday and Saturday nights, photographing and dancing to the great bands amidst fabulous light shows.”

Gabrielle Medecki, marketing director for Wolfgang’s Vault, said the company had long known of Hill’s catalog and was excited to connect with her. The firm’s archival photo collection had been dominated by four photographers – Joe Sia, Gene Anthony, Baron Wolman and Michael Zagaris – and the company was looking to expand upon it this year.

The deal makes Hill the first female photographer for which it sells a large catalog of her photos.

“This year we thought there was an opportunity to expand to some of these amazing images that Suki took,” Medecki said. “Some of her images are so iconic.”

To see all of Hill’s photos on Wolfgang’s Vault, go to her page on the website.