Over the past 15 years, Danny Clinch has established himself as one of the premier photographers on the popular music scene. A New Jersey native, Clinch began his professional career working as an intern for Annie Leibovitz, one of his initial inspirations. Clinch absorbed important lessons while assisting Steven Meisel, Timothy White and Mary Ellen Mark.

He has shot everyone from Radiohead to Public Enemy, from Phish to Metallica. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Spin, Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Mojo and Q. In addition to his frequent work for magazines and album covers, Clinch has presented his work in numerous galleries and published two books: Discovery Inn (1998), which is a collection of work shot over a ten-year period, and When the Iron Bird Flies (2000), which documents the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, where Clinch was the official photographer. He has also completed Pleasure and Pain, (2002) a documentary feature film about Ben Harper, a young roots-rock musician with a passionate following. Soon after completion, the film was picked up by Seventh Art Releasing.

As for the future, Clinch wants to keep on doing it all—shooting for magazines, putting together books, making films. "I'm known as a music photographer, and I'm very proud of that," he says. "But I want to continue doing films and photo essays—personal projects that are good for the soul. The photographers I most admire, like Robert Frank or Irving Penn, never allowed themselves to be pigeonholed."