[Springsteen, Bruce] — Frank Stefanko

Color print on card stock (16 1/2 x 27 7/8 in.; 420 x 705 mm), some minor handling wear to edges.

Bruce Springsteen. 'Born to Run,' Simon and Schuster: 2016; Frank Stefanko. 'Days of Hope and Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen,' Insight Editions: 2011

Color print on card stock (16 1/2 x 27 7/8 in.; 420 x 705 mm), some minor handling wear to edges.
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For his fourth studio album, 'Darkness on the Edge of Town,' Springsteen engaged photographer Frank Stefanko at Patti Smith’s recommendation. For the photo shoot, Springsteen drove to Stefanko's Haddonfield, New Jersey home, where the pair took a series of photographs against a pale, flowered wallpaper in the photographer’s bedroom. On the iconic album cover, Springsteen is depicted wearing a plain white t-shirt and dark leather jacket. Springsteen credited Stefanko for capturing the album’s spirit: "When I saw the picture I said, 'That's the guy in the songs.' I wanted the part of me that's still that guy to be on the cover. Frank stripped away all your celebrity and left you with your essence. That's what that record was about." Springsteen and Stefanko had a long working relationship, with Springsteen praising the photographer in his autobiography (which featured a Stefanko photograph on the cover) for his ability to “naturally intuit the conflicts I was struggling to come to terms with.”