Village Voice has Five Geeky Questions For Storied Rock Photographer Mick Rock

?Anyone interested in rock photography knows the name Mick Rock, and anyone interested in rock—particularly of the classic and punk varieties—is aware of his images.

“I started taking pictures in late 1969,” says Rock. “The first pictures that people care about these days were probably of Syd Barrett, who was a friend of mine and had just left Pink Floyd.”

In addition to Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, Rock shot the covers of Iggy and the Stooges’Raw Power, the Ramones’ End of the Century, Joan Jett’s I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, Queen II, and Lou Reed’s Transformer. He’s also put together several books of his nigh-uncountable number of stills, concert photos, and candids.

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For my sins in a former life, I’ve been forced to spend an inordinate amount of time with musicians in this life. Of course, I love them.

A camera is a wonderful ally. It requires minimal maintenance and provides entry to a world of endless imagery.

My ambition was not to be a great photographer (though that certainly would have been a worthy stance). It was a lust to embrace anything that startled or energized me.

I am not in the business of documenting or revealing personalities. I am in the business of freezing shadows and bottling auras.

Without the rock ‘n rollers, I would not have developed as an image man.

You want to shock people with a bit of mystery and beauty. That’s my favorite kind of shocking.

I’ve never felt like a voyeur, although I’ve certainly done plenty of looking!

There’s an art to looking back - how to celebrate the past without being entrapped by it. Photographs provide the great physical link.

My allegiance was always to the act. I wanted them to be happy. I wasn’t owned by a magazine or a record label.

I smell pictures more than I see them and I hear pictures more than I can smell them. It’s very habit forming.