The Experience: Jimi Hendrix at Mason's Yard

In 1967, British photographer Gered Mankowitz shot the Jimi Hendrix Experience during two sessions at his Mason's Yard studio.  Hendrix was taking London by storm, beginning the journey that would establish him as one of the most influential and charismatic rock stars of all time.  Considered by many to be the finest studio portraits ever taken of Hendrix and the Experience, these extraordinary images capture the acclaimed musician at a defining moment in his brief but spectacular career.

Since the early 1990s, select photographs from Mankowitz's sessions with Hendrix have been widely used as covers for Hendrix re-issue albums, and are now iconic in their own right.  The Experience:  Jimi Hendrix at the Mason's Yard showcases these famous images while reproducing Mankowitz's entire Hendrix portfolio, including his contemporary color reinterpretations of the archive.

In an accompanying essay, rock critic and Hendrix historian Richie Unterberger discusses the significance of Mankowitz's photos to the Hendrix legacy and puts the Mason's Yard sessions in the context of Hendrix's explosive rise to fame in 1967.  A brief encounter with Jimi when he was enjoying the spotlight for the first time, this is a candid record of a legend.