About

About Ralph Hulett

For more than 50 years, Ralph Hulett has been capturing the energy and excitement of live musical performances.  He was raised in the arts, the son of the late Disney animation background/watercolor artist Ralph Hulett and the late artist Shirley Sullivan. As a teenager, Ralph’s passion for popular music was ignited as he saw various 1960s bands like The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Buffalo Springfield and Jefferson Airplane pass through the Los Angeles area.  In the 1970s, he went to San Diego State as an English major and a Journalism minor.  He photographed concerts and wrote for the college paper, the Daily Aztec.  Over the years he interviewed artists like Eric Burdon, Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Richie Furay, John Lee Hooker, Robbie Krieger and Ray Manzarek of the Doors, Kenny Loggins, Taj Mahal, Muddy Waters and Frank Zappa.

However, it is from behind the camera that Ralph truly excels. Ralph’s historically significant photographs have been used in various documentaries, including the Aerosmith Video Scrapbook, ABC News Downtown: Stevie Nicks, and VH1 Behind the Music: Aerosmith, Pat Benatar, Lindsey Buckingham and Carlos Santana.  His photos have been published in magazines like Relix, Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar and various newspapers. Also, he is a contributor for Record Collector News. He wrote articles on artists he admired in his teens such as Jeff Beck, the Doors, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Sky Saxon and the Seeds, The Who, and Frank Zappa. Ralph created his Rockretrospect website out of his love for photography and music.

In 2005, Ralph put out a memoir/biography on Led Zeppelin and the 60s-70s music scene entitled Whole Lotta Led: Our Flight with Led Zeppelin. This book tells the story of Led Zeppelin from a fan’s point of view. Ralph writes about his experiences photographing concerts and describes the excitement of shows during this time, as well as sometimes meeting famous musicians. The book also includes stories and insights by musicians, other photographers and fans. This book’s concept was created and co-written by Jerry Prochnicky, co-author of Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison.  Visit www.wholelottaledthebook.com to see sample Zeppelin stories and photos. It is still available in E-book format at Amazon.com. Ralph and Jerry followed up their first book with a Zeppelin photo book entitled Good Times, Bad Times. The book captures the band's public and private lives in new, unseen photos and stories.

Besides music, Ralph’s other passion was education. He received a master’s degree in education and taught English and History at MacArthur Intermediate School, Santa Ana, for 34 years. He retired in 2016 and still pursues entertainment photography and lives with his supportive and wonderful wife, Sharon. She shares Ralph’s enthusiasm for music, and together they still enjoy concerts, often going to the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa. Enjoying music is a way of life for them, along with volunteering at their local church, The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa, Ca.