MICK ROCK The Shooting Party
Rock’s most legendary lensman talks to Jonathan Wingate
He bursts into the late afternoon gloom of the backroom in East London’s Idea Generation Gallery and offers a firm handshake and a warm smile. He may be in his mid-60s now, with his hard-partying days a long way off in the rear view mirror after a quadruple heart bypass 14 years ago, but behind his ever-present Ray-Bans, you can still see Mick Rock’s eyes sparkling with a strange but rather benign mischief.
He positively radiates an air of rock star cool, despite the fact that he made his name behind the camera rather than on stage in front of it. In his heyday he was, as Lou Reed put it, “Another leg of the animal called ‘rock.’” He is dressed head to toe in black – boots, jeans, shirt and denim jacket – all topped off with a dapper deep blue scarf. After a few hours in his company, you are left in no doubt that his enthusiasm for photography is as effervescent as it ever was.
He is here to talk about his new book – Mick Rock Exposed: The Faces Of Rock’N’Roll – a stunning retrospective collection of his work that ranges from his most famous photographs of Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Syd Barrett et al alongside lesser-known shots of numerous stars, ranging from the Sex Pistols and The New York Dolls through to Snoop Dogg and Lady Gaga.
How did you first … by Jonathan Wingate Already a Magazine Subscriber? Register now for online access.
<< Back to Issue 385
