John Lennon and Yoko Ono, at the Dakota, in New York City.
Photographer Kishin Shinoyama on his method: “I didn’t give them any direction as far as posing, apart from the kiss.
John and Yoko let me shoot wherever they went, whatever they did—because of this I didn’t need to [guide them].”

 

Yoko and John in Central Park.
“Reflecting on the images now, I still find them all very beautiful,
but the photos in Central Park are particularly special for me,” Shinoyama says.

Yoko and John, photographed in N.Y.C.
Shinoyama took almost 800 photographs of the couple in the five days,
documenting as much as he could. In the book, Yoko recounts that there wasn’t one she didn’t like.

John, photographed with his son Sean in their living room at the Dakota.
“They were obviously a tightly knit family,” Shinoyama says.

John and Yoko, taking a stroll in N.Y.C.
three months before he was assassinated on December 8, 1980.
“When I look back at the photos from that time,
I believe I was recording them at their happiest,” the photographer recalls.

John in the Hit Factory, where he and Yoko recorded Double Fantasy.
“When I see the pictures, that music still plays in my mind,” Shinomaya says.

The artists working in the studio on Double Fantasy.

Yoko, taking a break from recording.
“Yoko wanted to document their creative process and
the details of their life together during this period,” Shinoyama recalls.

John takes a moment to relax.
“Apparently John never saw all the photos; they were both so busy after the shoot,” Shinoyama explains
. “Of course he loved the photo of their kiss, [which] became the album cover.
It was his happiest moment, and I’m sure he would think they were beautiful.”

Yoko on 72nd Street in N.Y.C., September 1980.
“The book is a continuation of our collaboration from years ago,” Shinoyama says.

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