Julian Lennon launches photo exhibit in Miami

MIAMI - Agence France-Presse

Singer-songwriter and musician Julian Lennon exhibits his fine art photography and promotes ARTS FOR A BETTER WORLD (AFABW) to Launch Social Responsibility Effort: ?Sponsor a School Art Program? in Miami Beach, Florida on December 4, 2012 for its third edition during Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 with Overture, its newly designed and enhanced international platform for contemporary art. AFP PHOTO/Paula Bustamante

Julian Lennon -- the oldest son of the voice of the Beatles -- will exhibit a new collection of his melancholy photographs, called "Alone," at a prestigious art show to raise money for his charity.
 
In his second visit to Miami to promote his photography, Lennon is selling about a dozen prints with prices ranging from $3,500 to $5,500, modest by the standards of the popular international Art Basel Miami Beach show.
 
"I've been a philanthropist for all my life, and ... I've had many involvements in humanitarian and environmental issues," Lennon, 49, told AFP, referring to his WhiteFeather Foundation.
 
"Whatever work I do, I've always put at least ten percent aside (for) my foundation," he said ahead of the show, which runs from December 6-9.
 
"What we're trying to do here, and that's why I'm so happy to be part of this, is we're trying to make everybody else see that. Because there is a lot of money, obviously. And the idea is to put it back in schools," Lennon said.
 
Julian Lennon was able to build a close relationship with Paul McCartney -- the singer dedicated "Hey Jude" to him when he was just five years old to help him feel better after his parents, John Lennon and Cynthia Powell, divorced.
 
Julian also inspired Beatles hits "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Good Night." He has composed his own music to help benefit the foundation, and his latest photo exhibit is a follow-up to an earlier showing, 2009's "Timeless." John Lennon was largely absent from Julian's life; he also made statements indicating that Julian was not planned, unlike his son with Yoko Ono, Sean.
 
Asked about how his father influenced his art, Julian Lennon said: "What his work has shown many people is that you can actually be an individual in this world, and you don't have to be a sheep. And you can achieve things."