Produced in 1972 by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, and lead by the sleazy swagger of single “Walk on the Wild Side,” former Velvet Underground member Lou Reed was elevated to rock royalty with his 1972 album, Transformer. Opening with the glam twang of “Vicious” and featuring a blown out photograph of Reed on the sleeve taken by Mick Rock, it capsulized the excess of the era. 40 years later, Reed and Rock – known as The Man Who Shot the ‘70s – have converted the album into a lush monograph of Rock’s photography, aptly named “Transformer.”
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.
Previous
Next
Copyright 2023 - MickRock | All Rights Reserved