BlackBook: Lou Reed and Mick Rock Reminisce over Transformer

Last night at CBGB the John Varvatos store in NYC, Lou Reed and Mick Rock spoke about their friendship and work relationship spanning from the very beginning of both of their careers in music and photography to now. The gathering was to celebrate the launch of their photo-filled bookTransformer, showcasing many previously unseen images of Lou by Rock, and a few of Rock by Lou.

After guests milled about the store with cocktails, perusing the fruits of the artists’ labor, Rock and Lou took their places on a stage, not to perform, but to talk about their history. Lou Reed’s adoration of Mick Rock came from a few things: his ability to capture him in a way that felt alive, and real (as opposed to what he described as movie theater cardboard cutouts,) and for their shared affinity for staying up all night.

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.