Redoubled Fantasy

Back in November 1980, internationally recognized fine-art and news photographer Allan Tannenbaum heard that John Lennon and Yoko Ono had reemerged after five years in seclusion. And no, it wasn't another one of those goofy "bed-in" things. The pair had actually completed a new album, Double Fantasy, and were embarking on a limited publicity campaign.

Tannenbaum, then working for the SoHo Weekly News, was among the photographers allowed to shoot Lennon and Ono. He took rolls of images in New York City at the Dakota (the building in which they were living), in Central Park, and in a Manhattan gallery that had been converted into a studio. The resulting images form a poignant black-and-white series depicting perhaps the most controversial and influential couple in rock 'n' roll.

Now, thanks to the wonders of technology, Tannenbaum has digitally restored images that weren't produced for that first series. These new photos, along with selections from the original group, are on view in a show titled "John Lennon and Yoko Ono, A Double Fantasy: New Work by Allan Tannenbaum" at Bock Gallery in Plantation. The photographer has added color to all of the shots, but they retain their bleak, haunting beauty -- a quality that becomes all the more eerie when one considers that Lennon was murdered mere days after they were taken.