"Legendary rock photographer Mick Rock is often referred to as ‘The Man Who Shot the Seventies’, for his iconic images of Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Queen, the Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Blondie, Rocky Horror Picture Show, etc. London born, he has resided in New York for the past 35 years. He has shot over 100 album covers.
But he in reality never shopped shooting. His recent subjects include Snoop Dogg, Father John Misty, Lenny Kravitz , Janelle Monaie, Jimmy Fallon, The Black Keys, Karen O, Ellie Goulding, Alicia Keys, Michael Buble, Daft Punk, Perry Farrell, Motley Crue, TV On The Radio, Pharrell, Josh Groban, Flaming Lips, Nas, Rufus Wainwright, Kings of Leon, RKelly, The Black Lips , Queens of The Stone Age etc." Taken from Mick Rock's Website.
I recently watched a documentary presenting the life and experiences of renown photographer Mick Rock. Watching him whilst shooting famous names was incredible, his energy and general connection with his film camera reminded me to stay connected to my medium and allow my freedom of expression through this medium. He often yelled and made crazy noises whilst photographing people and you could see his connection with the person in a shoot and how he allowed them to lose themselves in the process which in turn produced incredibly raw and mindful images that were true to each artist he photographed. Portraying a true version of someone via photography in my opinion can be quite a challenge and for Mick Rock to be able to display a raw and emotional portrayal of each artist he photographs has inspired me to potentially go into learning more about portraiture and how to get that across in my own work.
Here are some of my favourite Mick Rock shots:
The Trailer for the Documentary
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