A JAPANESE photographer who took one of the last pictures of John Lennon with Yoko Ono had died at the age of 83.
Kishin Shinoyama spent five days with the couple in 1980 and took the iconic photograph of the music legend months before Lennon’s passing.
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It was one of the last photographs of Lennon before his assassination in 1980.
Shinoyama later revealed it was his idea that the couple kiss for the shot.
The photograph would later be used on the cover of the couple’s album, Double Fantasy.
“I think it was their happiest moment,” he said.
“I was fortunate to have been there and I feel privileged to have captured the moment.”
According to Japan News, the celebrated photographer suddenly fell ill around midday on Thursday and was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.
Born in 1940 in Tokyo, he studied photography at Nihon University.
He was married to a Japanese singer Saori Minami and took majority of the photographs for her album covers prior to the marriage.
He energetically took pictures of actresses and pop idols, calling the photos “gekisha”, meaning “hard shots”.
Many of those photos graced the covers and the centerfolds of magazines.
Shinoyama was also known for his artistic nude photography of women.
