Editing Robert Johnson (section)

===Photographs===
Until the 1980s, it was believed that no images of Johnson had survived. However, three images of Johnson were located in 1972 and 1973, in the possession of his half-sister Carrie Thompson. Two of these, known as the "dime-store photo" (December 1937 or January 1938) and the "studio portrait" (summer 1936), were copyrighted by Stephen LaVere (who had obtained them from the Thompson family) in 1986 and 1989, respectively, with an agreement to share any ensuing royalties 50% with the Johnson estate, at that time administered by Thompson. The "dime-store photo" was first published, almost in passing, in an issue of [[Rolling Stone magazine]] in 1986, and the studio portrait in a 1989 article by [[Stephen Calt]] and [[Gayle Dean Wardlow]] in ''78 Quarterly''.{{sfn|Pearson|McCulloch|2003|p=176}} Both were subsequently featured prominently in the printed materials associated with the [[The Complete Recordings (Robert Johnson album)|1990 CBS box set]] of the "complete" Johnson recordings, as well as being widely republished since that time. Because Mississippi courts in 1998 determined that Robert Johnson's heir was Claud Johnson, a son born out of wedlock, the estate share of all monies paid to LaVere by CBS and others ended up going to Claud Johnson, and attempts by the heirs of Carrie Thompson to obtain a ruling that the photographs were her personal property and not part of the estate were dismissed.<ref name="Gordon">{{Cite web|url=https://longreads.com/2018/12/18/hellhound-on-the-money-trail/|last=Gordon|first=Robert|title=Hellhound on the Money Trail (updated from original appearance in ''LA Weekly'' in 1991)|date=March 2018|website=Longreads.com|access-date=April 15, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2672308/annye-c-anderson-v-stephen-c-lavere/?|date=February 23, 2012|title=Annye C. Anderson v. Stephen C. LaVere, 2012-CA-00601-SCT (Miss. 2012)|author=[[Mississippi Supreme Court]]|access-date=April 15, 2021}}</ref> In his book ''Searching for Robert Johnson'', [[Peter Guralnick]] stated that the blues archivist [[Mack McCormick]] showed him a photograph of Johnson with his nephew Louis, taken at the same time as the famous "pinstripe suit" photograph, showing Louis dressed in his United States Navy uniform; this picture, along with the "studio portrait", were both lent by Carrie Thompson to McCormick in 1972.<ref name="Gordon"/> McCormick never returned the photograph of Johnson in his uniform, keeping it in his archive until his death. McCormick's daughter donated the archive to the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in 2020 and encouraged museum staff to facilitate the return of the photograph to Johnson's descendants; as of 2023, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that the museum had agreed to return the photograph and was awaiting instructions from the Johnson family.<ref name="WaPo McCormick Archive">{{cite news |last1=Edgers |first1=Geoff |title=He spent a lifetime collecting the blues. The Smithsonian listened. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2023/10/14/smithsonian-folkways-robert-mccormick/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=October 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015062750/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2023/10/14/smithsonian-folkways-robert-mccormick/ |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |date=October 14, 2023 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref> This photograph has never been made public.

Another photograph, purporting to show Johnson posing with the blues musician [[Johnny Shines]], was published in the November 2008 issue of ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2008/11/searching-for-robert-johnson|last=Digiacomo|first=Frank|date=November 2008|title=Searching for Robert Johnson|website=[[Vanityfair.com]]}}</ref> Its authenticity was claimed by the forensic artist [[Lois Gibson]] and by Johnson's estate in 2013,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/03/robert-johnson-photograph-identified|last=Thorpe|first=Jessica|date=February 2, 2013|title=Robert Johnson: Rare New Photograph of Delta Blues King Authenticated After Eight Years|website=[[Theguardian.com]]|access-date=February 3, 2013}}</ref> but has been disputed by some music historians, including [[Elijah Wald]], [[Bruce Conforth]] and [[Gayle Dean Wardlow]], who considered that the clothing suggests a date after Johnson's death and that the photograph may have been reversed and retouched. Further, both "Honeyboy" Edwards and Robert Jr. Lockwood failed to identify either man in the photo. Facial recognition software concluded that neither man was Johnson or Shines. Finally, Gibson claimed the photo was from 1933 to 1934 but it is known that Johnson did not meet Shines until early 1937.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/23/robert-johnson-photo-does-not-show-blues-legend-music-experts-say|last=Yuhas|first=Alan|date=September 19, 2014|title='Robert Johnson' Photo Does Not Show the Blues Legend, Music Experts Say|website=[[Theguardian.com]]|access-date=September 6, 2015}}</ref> In December 2015, a fourth photograph was published, purportedly showing Johnson, his wife Calletta Craft, Estella Coleman, and Robert Lockwood Jr.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chron.com/entertainment/music/article/New-photo-of-bluesman-Robert-Johnson-unearthed-6703035.php#photo-9121122|last=Baddour|first=Dylan|date=December 16, 2015|title=New Photo of Bluesman Robert Johnson Unearthed; Only Third Photo in Existence|website=[[Chron.com]]|access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref> This photograph was also declared authentic by Lois Gibson, but her identification of Johnson has been dismissed by other facial recognition experts and blues historians. There are a number of reasons why the photograph is unlikely to be Johnson: it has been proven that Craft died before Johnson met Coleman, the clothing could not be prior to the late 1940s, the furniture is from the 1950s, the Coca-Cola bottle cannot be from prior to 1950, etc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thecountryblues.com/op-ed/another-robert-johnson-photo-debunked/|last1=Matheis|first1=Frank|last2=Conforth|first2=Bruce|title=Another Robert Johnson Photo Debunked|website=Thecountryblues.com|access-date= December 28, 2015}}</ref>

A third photograph of Johnson, this time smiling, was published in 2020. It is believed to have been taken in Memphis on the same occasion as the verified photograph of him with a guitar and cigarette (part of the "dime-store" set), and is in the possession of Annye Anderson, Johnson's step-sister (Anderson is the daughter of Charles Dodds, later Spencer, who was married to Robert's mother but was not his father). As a child, Anderson grew up in the same family as Johnson and has claimed to have been present, aged 10 or 11, on the occasion the photograph was taken. This photograph was published in ''Vanity Fair'' in May 2020, as the cover image for a book, ''Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson'', written by Anderson in collaboration with author Preston Lauterbach,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/05/exclusive-first-look-at-new-photograph-of-blues-legend-robert-johnson|last=Anderson|first=Annye C.|date=May 20, 2020|title=Exclusive First Look at New Photograph of Blues Legend Robert Johnson|website=[[Vanityfair.com]]|access-date=May 20, 2020}}</ref> and is considered to be authentic by Johnson scholar Elijah Wald.