40 Captivating Photos Of Celebrities Back In The Day That You May Have Never Seen Before
Every celebrity has a few iconic moments from their career that they’ll always be remembered for. But before those incredible concerts and Oscar-winning performances happened, these stars were working hard to become household names. And apparently, doing some photo shoots along the way as well.
Below, we've gathered some of the most captivating pictures from photo shoots celebrities did when they were younger that have been shared in the OldSchoolCool subreddit. These photos might not be the first ones that come to your mind when you hear these stars' names, but they’re certainly worth checking out. Keep reading to also find an interview with Portland-based photographer Becca Lueck, and enjoy taking this trip back in time!
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Keanu Reeves "Dracula" Promotional Photoshoot (1992)
Princess Diana, Last Photoshoot By Mario Testino For Vanity Fair, 1997
River Phoenix And Keanu Reeves In The Promotional Photoshoot For My Own Private Idaho, 1991
All of our favorite celebrities have had flourishing careers, but it’s fascinating to look back on when they were younger and more fresh within their respective industries. Before Friends, Jennifer Aniston wasn’t a household name, and many people had never heard of Prince until he was in his 20’s. But it’s fascinating to see photos of them at the beginning of their careers versus where they are now. And lucky for us, all of those stars we know and love today were in some fabulous photo shoots in their youth.
The Old School Cool subreddit is dedicated to sharing pics of “history’s cool kids, looking fantastic”, and it certainly does a great job of that. The community describes itself as “a pictorial and video celebration of history's coolest kids, everything from beatniks to bikers, mods to rude boys, hippies to ravers. And everything in between. If you've found a photo, or a photo essay, of people from the past looking fantastic, here's the place to share it.” It has amassed an impressive 17.6 million members over the past 11 years, and lucky for us, some of the photos featured are of the actors and musicians we love.
Pamela Anderson In 1993
Jamie Lee Curtis (1980)
Marilyn Monroe's Final Photoshoot Photos, Just Three Weeks Before Her Death In 1962
To gain more insight on what it takes to make a timeless photo shoot, we reached out to professional photographer Becca Lueck, of Becca Jean Photography. She was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda, first detailing what she loves most about photography. “I love pretty much everything about photography, so that’s a tough one to answer!” she shared. “But I would have to say documenting different family’s personalities, and the way that they interact. Capturing their relationships is so special and my ultimate goal.”
We were also curious how Becca manages to capture a person’s essence when photographing them. “I am always looking for ways to get people to interact, rather than just standing there and smiling at the camera,” she explained. “So I will give people things to do that will help them bring out their personalities and feel comfortable in front of my camera.”
Helena Bonham Carter, 1987
The Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin, Esquire Photoshoot, 1982
Rare Backstage Photoshoot From Return Of The Jedi By Brian Griffin 1982
When it comes to what kinds of photoshoots Becca enjoys the most, she says, “My very favorite sessions are family adventure sessions, where we get to go somewhere really beautiful here in the Pacific Northwest, with gorgeous scenery and interactive elements. It just makes the photos extra amazing.” In her portfolio, you can find many stunning photos Becca has taken with rivers, lakes, mountains and other amazing scenery.
Dolly Parton Photoshoot At Dollywood Back In 1987
Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast At Tiffany’s Photoshoot, 1961
Freddie Mercury At A Photoshoot, 1979
We also asked Becca if she thinks all photoshoots are timeless or if there are specific ways photographers can ensure their shoots remain captivating decades later. “I always let people know that they should leave any digital watches at home and replace them with a more timeless watch, because nothing dates a photo more than a big Apple Watch on someone’s wrist,” she told Bored Panda. “I also help families figure out clothing, because what you would normally wear every day is not necessarily going to photograph well. So I am looking for clothing that is a bit more timeless, without any crazy prints that look super trendy.”
Mark Hamill And Carrie Fisher Photoshoot, 1977
I mistook that for a Capenters album cover for a second! 91ThjYsQz1...41eae9.jpg
Darth Vader Hugging Carrie Fisher, In The Legendary Princess Leia Gold Bikini, During A 1983 Rolling Stone Photoshoot
Drew Barrymore's Gq Photoshoot, 1993
“When I am doing a session inside of a family’s home, then I just ask them to put away anything that would be distracting, like dirty laundry, phone chargers and other cords,” Becca added. “I think that well placed and nice looking clutter is fine, but you don’t want a bunch of dirty dishes, or things like that in the background.”
Winona Ryder For Rolling Stone, 1991
Sigourney Weaver In A 1980's Photoshoot. What An Elegant Human Being
Marvin Gaye In The Rain, A Shot From The Photoshoot For His 1971 Album, "What's Going On" Released 50 Years Ago This Month And Considered By Many, Including Me, To Be The Greatest Album Of All Time
“I’ve been photographing families for over 10 years, so I’ve definitely learned some things along the way. My biggest tip when it comes to getting family photos taken is to really focus on having a fun time with your family,” Becca says. “The more you can be in the moment and stop stressing over everything being perfect, the better your photos will turn out.”
If you’d like to check out Becca’s website or book a session with her if you live in the Portland area, be sure to visit her website right here.
Keanu Reeves Photoshoot Circa 1985
Loved by woman of all ages!!! It's just something about him. That, and he gives so much and won't take any credit for it.
Whitney Houston's First Photoshoot, 1982
Prince's First Photoshoot, Age 19, 1977
To learn more wise words from photographers, we checked out this list from Full Frame featuring advice from some of the most famous names in the industry. Tom Hido, a San Francisco-based photographer who’s been featured in The New York Times Magazine and Vanity Fair, says, “To be kind is most important. After that, be prepared with a plan of how you’re going to make the picture. An example in my case would be, every time I photograph somebody, I always scout out the spot I’m going to photograph them in and try to anticipate what the light is going to be like and modify it if needed.”
Monica Bellucci, 1991
Pink Floyd, January 1968, From One Of The Only Known Photoshoots Of All Five Members
Kurt Cobain Wearing A "Corporate Magazines Still Suck" Shirt During Nirvana's Photoshoot For Rolling Stone Magazine, 1992
Ami Vitale, a Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic magazine photographer who has traveled to more than 90 countries, shared the advice, “Every story has a variety of viewpoints and truths depending on where you stand. It really takes tremendous time and patience to get to the subtleties and nuances of any story… The world is a beautiful place, we need to celebrate the goodness because it is everywhere.”
Kate Bush During The Photoshoot For The Hounds Of Love Album Cover. 1985
14 Year Old Christian Bale. Photoshoot From Late 1980s. (@golldies Instagram)
Probably around when he did Empire of the Sun, an excellent movie.
Clint Eastwood At A Lacoste Photoshoot In 1960
We hope you’re enjoying this list of old school photoshoot pics of some of the world’s most famous people. It’s always fun to look back at vintage photos, especially when they’re of our favorite celebrities. Keep upvoting the pics that take you back in time, and let us know in the comments which ones are your favorites. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring captivating, old school pics, look no further than right here!
One Of The Many Photos From The "Aladdin Sane" Photoshoot (1973)
The Beatles In A Photoshoot For The “Saturday Evening Post” (1964)
Kate Winslet - Ken Weingart Photoshoot 1996
Kate stole my heart as Rose in Titanic. I pray she never ever gives it back.
Cher... "Prisoner" Album Cover Photoshoot With Bob Mackie Styling... (Circa 1978)
A (Then) Little Known Band By The Name Of Nirvana Does A Photoshoot In A Field (Charles Peterson, 1989)
Alice Wheeler took this photo, not Charles Peterson. It was their first professional photo session as a band
Sally Field, Posing For A Photoshoot In The 70s
George Michael Doing A Photoshoot For His First Solo Single "Careless Whisper" In 1984
My absolut favorite singer of all times. I saw his show in Florence, from a few meters apart, cried the entire concert and felt on cloud nine afterwads. He was the best and will be forever missed. Listening to him right now <3
David Bowie's Photoshoot For His Album 'Heroes', 1977 (Happy Birthday Starman)
Jane Fonda - 1968 Barbarella Photoshoot
Angelina Jolie Rare Bikini Photoshoot By Harry Langdon In 1991
she is cute but i can't forget she's only 16 yo, it bothers me
Jennifer Aniston Doing Photoshoot For Friends First Season, 1994
Arnold Schwarzenegger Photoshoot In The 70's
Chris Farley Photoshoot From 1994
Eartha Kitt Oozing Sex Appeal In A Life Photoshoot (1955)
Roger Moore And Richard Kiel Doing A Photoshoot For Moonraker (1979)
Mr. Keil's hands ...they're almost bigger than Moore's head. Also: typecasting sucks. Never got enough credit for his acting.
David Bowie Ziggy Stardust Photoshoot, 1972
1995 Photoshoot Of 13yo Britney Spears By David Baren
Elizabeth Taylor, At 15, Riding Angels Flight Railway In 1947 While On A Photoshoot For Junior Bazaar Magazine
If they say it's Elizabeth Taylor, I'll go with it, but it's not a very flattering angle, lol
Queen Posing Topless (‘The Nudie Sessions’) In A 1973 Photoshoot For Mick Rock, Who Has Gone On And Shot Their Iconic Queen II Album Cover A La Marlene Dietrich That Still Haunts Them Today
Rod Serling In A Photoshoot For The Twilight Zone, 1964
The Beatles Getting Ready For The Abbey Road Photoshoot. Circa 1969
Is that Paul? Or the person who’s been impersonating him after his death for the last 55 years? 😂
Nirvana In The Pool During The “Nevermind” Photoshoot (1991)
Ricky Gervais In A Photoshoot For His Band Seona Dancing, 1980s
Outtakes From The Photoshoot That Would Eventually Become The Album Cover Of Pink Floyd's Album Wish You Were Here (1975)
One Of The First Photoshoots Of The Rolling Stones - 1963
Worked their first American concert. They were rather overwhelmed but grew into their roles... to put it mildly. Much later, one of our guys (let's call him Ray) worked a tour and had to build the lips and tongue background. Jagger wanted it bigger at each stop. Mid-tour Jagger wanted us to build a ridiculously long tongue that extended over the audience. It was not safe with the equipment of that time. Ray explained this. Jagger threw a hissy fit. Now, Ray was a biker... big, tattooed street fighter. Jagger's bodyguard tried to do a half-arsed flying kick at our guy. Ray deflected it and guy went flying off the stage. Jagger stopped mid rant, fired the bodyguard and ran after Ray trying to hire him. Nope. Didn't work. And that is just one of the roadie stories our crew told over the years.
Humorous Outtake Of Queen From A Photoshoot For Their 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Single (C. 1975)
Stevie Nicks During A Self-Defense Book Photoshoot, 1983
One Of LED Zeppelin's First, If Not The First Photoshoot, 1968
Julie Newmar Doing A Cat Woman Photoshoot 1966
Carrie Fisher Slave Leia Photoshoot (1983)
Grace Kelly Looking Like A Total Angel. 1955 Photoshoot
I visited her grave in the mid 80s. Except I didn't know it until I asked. In Monaco walking around this interesting church with a lot of dead people in the floors and walls. By which I mean grave markings and fancy statures and so on in floor and alcoves. One particular one had a ton of flowers and a guard so I asked the guard about it and was informed it was Princess Grace's tomb. I'm sure I came across as a the ignorant American but I was just a sailor with a couple of days to look around town. Monaco then at least was very much a rich people town
1956 - Grace Kelly And Prince Rainier Of Monaco's Photoshoot By Elliot Erwin
Sean Penn And Madonna Wedding Photoshoot, 1985
Uma Thurman / Photo By Frederic Meylan, 1989
Photoshoot Of Sharon Stone In 1983
18-Year-Old Kobe Bryant During His First Adidas Photoshoot As A Laker At Will Rogers State Beach. 1996
Barbara Stanwyck In A Photoshoot With A See Through Dress Circa Early 30's. Man I Love Pre-Code Hollywood
See through - to a full cup bra and a slip that covers everything and is less revealing than some beach wear. In the 70s they could not show a woman in a bra on TV. I lived near Canada. A quick reference to whether you were watching a US station or a Canadian station was the Playtex bra ads. Canada - women in bra saying hw comfortable it was. US - fully clothed woman pointing to the bra on a mannequin and saying how comfortable it was. That seemed kind of dumb even back then.
Restored Images From The Beach Boys' Photoshoot For Their Debut 1962 Album Surfin' Safari, And The Location In Malibu Today
Philip Michael Thomas And Don Johnson Being Just The Coolest Moterf'ers Alove At A Photoshoot For Miami Vice In 1985
The Beatles Final Photoshoot, 1969
Bob Dylan And His Girlfriend Suze Rotolo During The Photoshoot For The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan Album Cover. West Village, 1963
It would have Never occurred to him he would eventually win the Nobel Prize :D
The (Still Very Active) Soul Singer Dionne Warwick During Her Photoshoot For Her Featured "Souled Out Special" Of 1969
Fleetwood Mac During A Photoshoot For The Album 'Tusk' In The Late 70s
Sting - Photoshoot For Synchronicity, 1983
Claudia Cardinale And Frank Zappa, Italian Magazine Photoshooting, 1967
Director Joe Dante Doing A Photoshoot For Gremlins, 1984
Contact Sheet Of Jim Morrison's "Young Lion" Photoshoot (Joel Brodksy) 1967
NEVER, not even once, did I work with someone who oozed sensuality like Jim Morrison. He had a subtle, irresistible energy that blew my teenage mind. You could sense him before you saw him. Elvis wasn't even in same game, neither was Clapton or Daltry. Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant had a powerful presence, but it was their voice, their talent, their act. Jim Morrison had an altogether different effect. And no... no I did not get personal with him, or any of the acts. Too naive. Dang it.
Pattie Boyd, Cynthia Lennon, Maureen Starkey & Jenny Boyd Posed For A Photoshoot To Announce The Opening Of Apple Boutique (1967)
Mary Wilson Of The Supreme, 1965, In Their Photoshoot For "A Bit Of Liverpool"
That's all of The Supremes. Florence Ballard on the left and Diana Ross is on the right.
Angelina Jolie At Her First Photoshoot In 1990
As a young teenager, I thought everyone found her absolutely stunning. It took 8 more years to realize that there was a word to describe me, bisexual. Rural life, pre internet, was very sheltered for teenagers.
Calvin Klein Photoshoot With Kate Moss & Mark Wahlberg By Mario Sorrenti In 1993
Muhammed Ali Poses With His Prize Winnings During A Photoshoot In 1964
Phil Collins Doing A Photoshoot In 1976
Joan Jett And Mike Tyson Posing With Guitars (In Fashion Magazine Photoshoot 1985)
Robert Redford At A Photoshoot In 1959
Kylie Minogue In A Photoshoot For "Got To Be Certain" (1988)
Stevie Nicks In The Photoshoot For Her Hit Album 'The Wild Heart', 1983
Jennifer Love Hewitt (1998)
Dr. Hook During A Photoshoot In London. England, 1975
Ac-Dc Highway To Hell Photoshoot In 1979
The Beatles' First Photoshoot, December 1961
Kiss At A Photoshoot, 1975
Actress Doris Houck Preparing For A Photoshoot Near To The Hollywoodland Sign. The H Was Missing After A Drunk Driver Lost Control Of His Vehicle And Crashed Behind The H, Making It Fall Down The Cliff. Los Angeles, California, 1945
Van Halen During A Photoshoot, 1980 (Notice The Shark Guitar That Was Used For The Back Cover. Eddie Used This Guitar During Their 1978 World Tour)
Jennifer Love Hewitt 1990's Rollerskate Photoshoot
Uma Thurman Doing A Photoshoot In 1986
1953 A Peak Within A Photoshoot
Irish Folk Group Clannad, With 21 Year Old Enya Sitting Next To Her Older Sister Moya, Posing During A Photoshoot For Their 1982 Album Fuaim
Friends Cast Photoshoot In The 90s
Clara Bow In A Promotional Photoshoot. So, The 1920s It Girl You Say? Yeah, I Think I Can See That
Nico And Andy Warhol As Batman And Robin For A Photoshoot In 1967
Genesis Photoshoot, 1973
1961. Warren Beatty And Natalie Wood In A Photoshoot For Splendor In The Grass. It Was Beatty's First Film Ever
When my local theater did this play the actors called it Splinter in the A$$. :)
Dan Fogelberg At Home In Tennesee In 1974 During Photoshoot For His Album Souvenirs. © Henry Diltz
Hole - Photoshoot From 1991 For Pretty On The Inside - 1991
20 Yr Old Mariah Carey Before She Was Famous At A Photoshoot For Her Self Titled Debut Album - [1990]
Isn’t Mariah Carey the one who has a secret birthdate? So was she really 20 in 1990?
Angela Bowie Photoshoot For A Black Widow TV Series, 1975. Photo By Terry O'neill
Doro Pesch Of "Warlock". Photoshoot At Munich, Germany, 1985
Kurt Cobain & Kim Deal Xmas ‘93 (Melody Maker Magazine Photoshoot)
Jean Shrimpton Aka Shrimp, Photoshoot 1971, Photography By Clive Arrowsmith
The Stone Roses In A Photoshoot (1989)
Mariah Carey At An Snl Photoshoot (1990)
Her 90s MTV Unplugged concert was one of the best things I’ve seen and heard in music.
The Beach Boys, Looking Dapper During A London Photoshoot, 1964
They look like they're in their 40's in this photo. Crazy how clothes, haircuts... back then made people look so much older.
Patrick Demarchelier - Madonna Photoshoot Bedtime Stories Album (1994)
Bruce Springsteen In The Photoshoot For The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Album Cover, 1978
Alyssa Milano During A Physical Fitness Photoshoot, 1989
Bollywood Glamor Girl Of 1950s, Begum Para In Life Magazine Photoshoot, 1951
Nalini Jaywant, Photoshoot For Life Magazine, 1951
I have zero idea who this is but she is such a quintessential beauty, perfection.
Laura Dern (1993) Jurassic Park Photoshoot)
she is really trying, but grasping those fossils doesn't work. And i love dinos AND laura Dern. but this looks...weird.