McCartney Times

Born on August 31, 1941, David M. Spindel grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn as the class clown, the second of four children, and a keen observer of human nature long before he ever picked up a camera. His father was a hardworking pharmacist and his mother an ardent schoolteacher. Together they instilled discipline, curiosity, and wit, qualities that would shape his life’s work.

Spindel discovered photography in high school while shooting for the school newspaper. A close family friend encouraged him to apply to the Rochester Institute of Technology. Though the idea of photography as a profession surprised his family, they supported him fully. At RIT he studied under Minor White, Ralph Hattersley, Dr. Richard Zakia, and Robert Bagby, graduating in 1964.

After graduation he apprenticed with several New York photographers, most notably Tosh Matsumoto, who urged him to open his own studio. In 1970 he did just that. Major advertising agencies quickly took notice, and his reputation grew steadily as assignments multiplied.

A prolific series of commissions from Major League Baseball became the catalyst for his signature body of work. His still life photographs, often composed of hundreds of nostalgic memorabilia items, functioned as meticulously constructed time capsules. With an extraordinary ability to transform apparent chaos into intention, Spindel elevated organized clutter into art. Many of these images were self published as baseball posters, while others were licensed worldwide and became favorites among collectors.

Spindel was commissioned for limited edition projects with legendary athletes including Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto. His charitable work includes projects benefiting the Boy Scouts of America and the ALS Association.

His unmistakable sense of humor found full expression in his Rebus photographs, where he assembled visual puns and handcrafted elements to form celebrity names and everyday expressions. These brain teasing works were widely licensed for posters and apparel.

Following the international success of his baseball memorabilia photography, Abbeville Press signed Spindel to an eight book publishing contract for the Major League Memories Series. These richly detailed coffee table books chronicled the history of eight Major League teams from inception to present.

In 1980, through a remarkable chain of events, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hired Spindel to photograph their return to the studio for the Double Fantasy sessions. He became the last photographer entrusted with documenting them together during this intimate and historic period. His images have since appeared in books, documentaries, CDs, videos, and posters worldwide. In 2026, twenty two of his photographs will appear in Steven Soderbergh’s film John Lennon: The Last Interview.

Beyond Lennon and Ono, Spindel has photographed a wide range of cultural figures, driven less by celebrity than by story and the unfolding of meaningful moments.

He has appeared on numerous television programs and been interviewed worldwide. His photographs hang in corporate offices, baseball stadiums, and galleries internationally, and continue to be licensed across many products.

Spindel lives in Anthem, Arizona with his wife Barbara. They raised two entrepreneurial children, Jeffrey and Joyce, and welcomed their daughter in law Caroline into the family. He continues uncovering poetry in everyday objects and proving that the right photograph can indeed stop time.

Learn more at SpindelVisions.com

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