The Black Keys: Photographs by Larry Niehues
The Black Keys relationship with Larry Niehues began through a shared love of motorcycles, vintage Americana, and a special feature of Dan Auerbach’s impressive collection of bikes that ran in Dice Magazine. Larry continued to work with Dan Auerbach over the course of a few projects.
Ready for a life change, Larry relocated from Los Angeles to Nashville where he began working with The Black Keys and was ultimately brought on as the band’s official tour photographer. Keeping pace with the band’s rigorous schedule both on and off the road has granted Larry unique access to capture images of the group performing and in more intimate settings.
Drawn from a wealth of thousands of images shot on stage, in the studio, and at rest, this never before seen collection offers an inside view of the band that fans and music lovers are sure to adore.
“I am grateful and humbled to document everyday life on tour with a band as creative and hardworking as The Black Keys. I hope people will enjoy this collection of photographs as a view into the moments on the road I cherish so much.”
About Larry Niehues
French-born photographer Larry Niehues was raised in the idyllic setting of Avignon in the South of France with an inherent fascination with America and all its beguiling history and culture. With a talented costume designer as a mother, Larry and his brother, Charles fell naturally into the fashion world. Charles established his brand Fat Boy Clothing, catapulting Larry into the role as the brand’s de facto photographer. While Larry’s introduction to fashion photography was somewhat by happenstance, his passion for the medium was immediate. An impressive roster of clients from the commercial, fashion, and fine art worlds steadily grew, prompting Larry’s full-time career in photography and ultimately his relocation to Los Angeles in 2010.
Inspired by photographic legends such as William Eggleston, Robert Frank, and Dennis Hopper, Larry set off on a life-altering journey throughout America's fifty states in 2013. During his travels, Larry became immersed in the country's landscape, capturing images of distinctly American subjects flush with gritty grimy muscular motorcycle lifestyles, seedy neon motels, and iconic cowboy cultures from a time long since gone by. Niehues’ tireless travels and countless rolls of Americana captured on 35mm film would ultimately amount to a publishing deal with Belgian-based Lannoo Publishers who released his first monograph, Nothing Has Changed in 2019.
Nothing Has Changed quickly sold through its first and second print runs and is currently sold out with accolades from top publications including The Guardian, W Magazine, and The Telegraph. Glowing press coverage hailed Niehues’ reverent nods to American photographic masters such as William Eggleston and Robert Frank, with a modern twist perhaps only a foreigner could capture. Nothing Has Changed was blessed with an introduction from Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who began as an early supporter of Niehues’s work before bringing Larry into the fold as the official tour photographer for the band.
Niehues’ second book, Mississippi Dream was born as the product of his extensive travels through the US during the making of Nothing Has Changed when Larry quickly became enthralled with the people and culture of the Mississippi Delta. The project was shot over the course of three years during the COVID pandemic requiring multiple cross-country trips to the Delta during uncertain times in an area affected by illness and unseasonal flooding.
Mississippi Dream received a very special pre-release in the US in February 2023 at Galerie XII in Los Angeles, with official launches following in Nashville in April 2023, and Paris in December 2023. Larry’s long-standing passion for America has been requited with his official status as an American citizen, which was awarded to him in 2021.