Vollmer, along with Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann (the "Exis"), befriended the band and were responsible for some of their most iconic images in their leather-clad days prior to Brian Epstein.
Paul McCartney wrote in his foreword to Vollmer's illustrated book From Hamburg to Hollywood, published in England in 1997: "[Jürgen's] sense of style and excellent photographic skills were to have a profound effect throughout our careers.
For French films (including four by Alain Resnais), Vollmer travelled to Europe several times for the duration of the shooting and photographed, for example, Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Depardieu, Isabelle Adjani and Dirk Bogarde.
Celebrities he photographed include Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Madonna and Cher, and his photos were used several times for film posters, for example for The City Shark and Lord of the Tides.
He photographed Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, among others, and took the poster photos for From Hell, Sin Eater and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
His portraits of female film stars often exude a "mysterious sensuality"," as stated in a major article about Vollmer in the German edition of Rolling Stone magazine in 2004.
A book with memoirs was published in May 2013 under the title How I Cut John Lennon's Hair, Ran Away from Romy Schneider and Made Catherine Deneuve Laugh.