If you’re passing through the sunny climes of Los Angeles in the next few weeks, be sure to pay a visit to TASCHEN’s vibrant gallery on Beverley Boulevard. This week they’re joined by legendary photographer Mick Rock to celebrate his new book The Rise of David Bowie—a hologram-covered, sapphire-coloured hardback filled with some of the most electrifying glam-rock shots of David at his peak.
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.
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