Exclusive: See Never-Before-Seen Photos of The Doors on Exhibit at Morrison Hotel Gallery Celebrating the Band’s 60th Anniversary

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of when the Doors formed, three photographers, in partnership with the band, have shared never-before-seen images of the band during the late 1960s, which will be on display at the upcoming exhibit at the Morrison Hotel Gallery, located inside the Sunset Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles, through July 24.

Opening July 10, The Doors: 60th Anniversary will feature a collection of images pulled directly from The Doors’ archive, highlighting moments in time from studio sessions, live performances, and other behind-the-scenes captures taken by Henry Diltz, Paul Ferrara, and Michael Montfort, along with additional pieces by photographers Guy Webster, Bobby Klein, Gloria Stavers, Ken Regan, Ethan Russell, and Art Kane.

The exhibition will also feature several signed prints available exclusively for the anniversary collection by Joel Brodsky, who took the “Young Lion” portraits of Jim Morrison.

Diltz hopes the images offer a new lens into the band and their history. The photographer first met the Doors after the band saw the album cover he and graphic artist Gary Burden did for Crosby, Stills, and Nash‘s 1969 self-titled debut. For the CSN cover, Diltz photographed the band, sitting on an old couch in front of a shack in West Hollywood.

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“They called us and said, ‘We want you to do our next album cover?’” recalled Diltz in a 2020 interview. “So we went over to their little sort of clubhouse office, and we met Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison there. I had known them around town. We said, ‘Okay, do you have a title?’ And they said no. We said, ‘Well, do you have some idea of what you want on the cover?’ They said no. And then we’re scratching our heads kind of thinking what’s next?”

From there, Diltz went on to shoot the iconic cover of the Doors’ 1970 Morrison Hotel album. From the outside looking in, Diltz captured the band peering out the window in the lobby of the Morrison Hotel on South Hope Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Though the band didn’t have permission to photograph, Diltz waited for the hotel clerk to walk away before getting some shots in.

Inside the gatefold were more images by Diltz, including the band sitting at the bar of the Hard Rock Café, formerly located downtown at 300 East 5th Street, which was a few blocks from the Morrison Hotel.

“The Doors were a lyrical force woven into the fabric of the Los Angeles music scene,” Diltz tells American Songwriter. “Jim Morrison burned like a comet in his short but colorful life —brilliant, unpredictable, and unforgettable.”

RSVP to The Doors: 60th Anniversary opening reception on July 10, here.
Check out the full archive of photographs of the Doors at Morrison Hotel Gallery here.

Photos by Henry Diltz