Ron Raffaelli(I)
- Director
- Producer
Ron Raffaelli was an American photographer who first became known for shooting images of rock music stars of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known also for his fine art and erotic photography, and for a very brief time, he created the most erotic cinema to be found in the entire adult film world of the 1970's, emphasizing beautiful actors and actresses and high production values. His work has appeared in hundreds of magazine layouts, on 50 album covers, over 40 posters, in six books and in public exhibitions.
Raffaelli was born in Los Angeles on September 20, 1943. He graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Southern California in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in Advertising Photography. In 1968, he was invited to a Beverly Hills estate by Jimi Hendrix, who needed a tour photographer. "An art director had told me that this British rock star was getting ready to go on tour in the United States, and he needed a photographer. So I went up to this Beverly Hills house to show my portfolio, and when I got there, there were about thirty or forty photographers with their portfolios. When my turn came, I went into this bedroom and there was a Tiffany lamp with red scarves hanging from it, and at the foot of the bed, there was this handsome black man with a blond on either side of him, and one behind him on the bed. I recognized who it was, it was Jimi Hendrix. And he went through all thirty of my photos in about thirty seconds. He hands them back to me and says thank you. I left, thinking 'what a waste of time that was.' A couple of weeks later, I got the call that Jimi chose me, and the next morning I was on a plane to Hawaii to join him." By the mid 1970s, Raffaelli went on to pursue other venues in fine art photography, as well as directing and producing quality hardcore erotic films. In 2011, Raffaelli first showed his vast collection of museum-quality Fine Art Prints, which he had in storage for 40 years. Ron Raffaelli died November 7, 2016.
Raffaelli was born in Los Angeles on September 20, 1943. He graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Southern California in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in Advertising Photography. In 1968, he was invited to a Beverly Hills estate by Jimi Hendrix, who needed a tour photographer. "An art director had told me that this British rock star was getting ready to go on tour in the United States, and he needed a photographer. So I went up to this Beverly Hills house to show my portfolio, and when I got there, there were about thirty or forty photographers with their portfolios. When my turn came, I went into this bedroom and there was a Tiffany lamp with red scarves hanging from it, and at the foot of the bed, there was this handsome black man with a blond on either side of him, and one behind him on the bed. I recognized who it was, it was Jimi Hendrix. And he went through all thirty of my photos in about thirty seconds. He hands them back to me and says thank you. I left, thinking 'what a waste of time that was.' A couple of weeks later, I got the call that Jimi chose me, and the next morning I was on a plane to Hawaii to join him." By the mid 1970s, Raffaelli went on to pursue other venues in fine art photography, as well as directing and producing quality hardcore erotic films. In 2011, Raffaelli first showed his vast collection of museum-quality Fine Art Prints, which he had in storage for 40 years. Ron Raffaelli died November 7, 2016.