Lynn Goldsmith

Lynn Goldsmith (born February 11, 1948) is an American recording artist, a film director and a celebrity portrait photographer and inventor. In 1973 she invented what is now known as the 'selfie-stick' and perfected it into a piece of equipment that could be carried around by anyone in 2004. Many of those images, including talk about her "stick" appears on her Facebook pages. Lynn's photographs have appeared on the covers and in publications in many countries for the past 50 years. She has done over 100 album covers. In addition to her editorial work, Goldsmith has also focused on fine art photography with conceptual images. Her photographs are in the collections of The Smithsonian among other museums and her 3D videos created in 1982 are in the collection of Moma.

Early life

Goldsmith was born in Detroit, Michigan. Her mother was an interior decorator and her father was an engineer. Her older sister, Ellen Nieves, is a painter living in upstate New York. Goldsmith lived in Detroit until high school when she moved to Florida. She graduated from Miami Beach High School and then attended the University of Michigan where she graduated in three years with 2 degrees in English and Psychology. She was magna cum laude. She was the youngest woman director ever accepted into the Director's Guild of America as a director. She has numerous awards for her photography from the Lucien Clergue to The World Press. Though she has had multiple careers: co-manager of Grand Funk Railroad, Island Record's recording artist Will Powers, etc. she is most widely known for her portraits of rock and rolls biggest icons.She chronicled Bruce Springsteen's rise, the Rolling Stones' stadium tours, and Michael Jackson's ascent, Cultural heroes like Bob Dylan and Patti Smith became frequent subjects for her lens.