Michael Levin's brief career as a professional photographer began in New York City in 1959. Without benefit of formal training (or even informal training) Levin took his passion for what had been his high school hobby and threw himself into the fray with a single minded determination to succeed.

"Everyone told me I was wasting my time," said Levin. After all, wasn't it axiomatic that in NYC "everyone was a photographer?" Despite the dire predictions of failure, Levin sought any and all photo opportunities, and much to the surprise of all - he became a working, published photographer in just six months. And, he enjoyed a clientele of top-name show business personalities.

Magazine assignments, covers, album and sleeve portraits, advertising work, and even some small catalogs came his way. By the end of two years his clients ranged from Dick Clark to Clint Eastwood to Chubby Checker. His photography was seen on many top-selling record albums of such stars as Bobby Rydell, The Everlys, Dion, and Conway Twitty, to name a few.

At this point, Levin had the opportunity to make his first trip west of the Hudson River, and was so entralled with Los Angeles that he wasted no time in moving to the Hollywood Hills in late 1961.

He continued adding to his celebrity roster for the next two years, and then, as suddenly as it began, Levin awoke one morning in late 1963 with the epiphany that he had achieved his goals for photography, and it was time to move on.

Through good fortune his archive of countless historical photos survived more than 45 years of seclusion stashed in two footlockers. Fortunately his body of work is again seeing daylight and available to all those needing high-quality images that enrich recollections of the high-flying rock and roll era from 1959 through 1963.

Mr. Levin, his wife and a son have resided in Ojai, California since 1998.