--- title: The Story of a Previously Unpublished Aretha Franklin Photo description: "She wasn't a diva," photographer Bruce W. Talamon recalls, remembering the shoot at her home in 1977. canonical: https://time.com/5407066/aretha-franklin-unpublished-photo/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-28T15:00:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:11.138Z article:section: History og:title: The Story Behind a Previously Unpublished Aretha Franklin Portrait og:description: It was taken at her home in 1977 og:url: https://time.com/5407066/aretha-franklin-unpublished-photo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2299d6c17828784d/69893b2b096a94d3b96a38bc/aretha-franklin-never-before-seen-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: aretha-franklin-never-before-seen-photo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Story Behind a Previously Unpublished Aretha Franklin Portrait twitter:description: It was taken at her home in 1977 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2299d6c17828784d/69893b2b096a94d3b96a38bc/aretha-franklin-never-before-seen-photo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Aretha Franklin Never Saw This Picture of Herself. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: In Memoriam: Aretha Franklin [Watch (HLS stream): In Memoriam: Aretha Franklin](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mTm9JUZ0.m3u8) (2:12)  _Published 2018-08-16. Aretha Franklin died on Thursday at the age of 76._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 28, 2018 3:00 PM UTC  Singer Aretha Franklin, photographed at her Los Angeles home in 1977. Singer Aretha Franklin, photographed at her Los Angeles home in 1977. Bruce W. Talamon—Courtesy of TASCHEN  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 28, 2018 3:00 PM UTC When the [Queen of Soul](http://time.com/5365484/aretha-franklin-time-cover/) Aretha Franklin died last month at the age of 76, she was called a “[diva to the end,”](http://time.com/5380500/aretha-franklin-public-viewing-gold-casket/) and proved that point by going out in a gold-plated casket. But that doesn’t mean Franklin didn’t have a down-to-earth side, too — and that’s what’s on display in the photo seen here. It was taken in 1977 but was never published until now. “She did her own makeup. She did her hair herself; she had pulled it back and put it in a bun,” recalls former TIME contract photographer Bruce W. Talamon, who shot the portrait in the living room of Franklin’s Los Angeles home while on assignment for [_Soul_ newspaper.](https://deskgram.net/p/1848979451012767006%5F1202193072) The image is one of the nearly 300 photos from soul music’s glory days featured in his new book [_Soul. R&B. Funk. Photographs 1972–1982_](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05340/facts.bruce%5Fw%5Ftalamon%5Fsoul%5Frb%5Ffunk%5Fphotographs%5F19721982.htm). Back then, a front-page photo of a star like Franklin was just the kind of picture the editors of _Soul_ hoped could boost sales. “We were a small publication. It was hand to mouth. Money was tight,” Talamon says. “\[The paper\] needed Aretha on the cover, and Aretha said ‘Absolutely.'” While divas might usually flanked by an army of support staff, Talamon had an enviable amount of privacy with the Grammy winner. They set up in her living room, with no one else around. And, the photographer recalls, what some might see as the concern of a diva — how she was going to look — expressed itself in serious concern about his thoughts on photographic elements such as lighting and composition. He remembers pleasant small talk too. “I remember she was trying to make me feel comfortable — asked me where I was from. I told her I grew up here in L.A., we talked about L.A. She was never a diva to me. She was gracious with her time.” He thinks she played the piano at one point, and while he doesn’t remember what she played for or whether she belted out a tune, getting her to strike the right pose was effortless. “I told her I loved her eyes,” he recalls. “I said, ‘I’d like you to lean into the piano,’ and there it was. I think she’s looking at me in a seductive way — not _me —_ but my camera. She was having a good time. Those eyes, those eyes follow you around the room.” “I would have liked for her to have seen this photograph,” he adds. “She never saw this photograph because we didn’t use it. I think she would have liked it.” Talamon’s new book — which also features photos of other superstars including James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire, the Jackson Five, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Donna Summer — [will be released Monday.](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3836572400/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=3836572400&linkId=4ce95959be26841b8b698f58e7a684a8) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5407066/aretha-franklin-unpublished-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5407066/aretha-franklin-unpublished-photo/"},"headline":"Aretha Franklin Never Saw This Picture of Herself. 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