Mick Rock: Eye of the Storm
Mick Rock is a rock ‘n’ roll legend. In the business since 1969, the renowned photographer enjoyed unprecedented access to some of the biggest stars of the 1970s, including Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Queen and Blondie (all of whom he has done — or is doing — books with and about). These days, Rock is a fervent advocate of digital photography, and has installed Apple’s Aperture software at the heart of his digital workflow.
Syd Barrett to the Scissor Sisters
Mick Rock began his rock ‘n’ roll photography in 1969. He was studying modern languages and literature at the University of Cambridge when he became friends with Syd Barrett, an original member of Pink Floyd. Rock’s first steps into the world of photography began when he was asked to do the cover art for Barrett’s first solo album.
“Many of the musicians I photographed back then were operating well ahead of their time, and probably appeared crazy to most of our contemporaries”, he recalls. “They reminded me of the ‘mad’ poets of my university studies, especially the French Symbolist poets like Baudelaire and Rimbaud, the English Romantics like Shelley and Byron, and the American Beats like Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti”.
“The photos I took of Syd Barrett, David Bowie and co are more than 30 years old, but they have a certain contemporary ‘feel’ to them even now”, says Rock, who admits that his work was not influenced by famous photographers, but by these early subjects. “If it hadn’t been for rock ‘n’ roll, I would never have become a photographer. That’s what inspired me”. He himself has become a part of that culture and, like them, is now regarded as something of an icon.
Rock is currently in the process of assembling a book that will provide a retrospective overview of his work, with a working title of ‘Exposures’. “That won’t be the final title”, he says. “A good description might be ‘Syd Barrett to the Scissor Sisters’. There will a lot of previously unpublished pictures”, promises Rock, who also confesses: “The truth is that some of my favourite pictures are the ones that have never been published”.
Rock built up his photographic career during the heyday of glam rock in London, but after moving his base to New York in 1977, he quickly turned his attention to the underground punk and new wave scene, characterised by artists such as Blondie, Talking Heads and The Ramones. These days, he is shooting a lot of the great modern rock acts like The Killers, The Fratellis, Queens of the Stone Age, Klaxons, Kaiser Chiefs and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. His keen eye as a cutting-edge rock photographer has not deteriorated in the 37 years since he began his career. He explains: “I enjoy working with the young rockers. I enjoy the great new rock ‘n’ roll energy that has surfaced since the turn of the Millennium. It fuels my vision”.
Embracing the Revolution
This cutting-edge attitude extends to his choice of technology. “I have a Mac Pro and a 30-inch Apple Cinema Display in my office, on which I run Aperture”, he says. “Aperture is a revolutionary tool for photographers. In the past, editing and organising photos really was a pain — everything had to be done by hand. With Aperture, it’s all so immediate. It stores the original photos, and the archiving and management functions are particularly excellent”.
Although Rock mainly uses Aperture to manage photos, he also rates its adjustment and editing functions. His cover art for the 1972 Lou Reed album “Transformer” has an unexpected, out-of-focus blur, but even such accidental creations can be easily recreated in Aperture. “I love that I can play with the exposure and colour immediately without having to go into full post-production mode”, he says.
Rock mainly shoots digital with a Canon EOS 5D but also loves film, and uses them both based on his understanding of their respective advantages. “Of course I still love and shoot film in a controlled situation, but I also shoot a ton of digital. There’s a certain rhythm and intimacy that it allows which has added a new dimension to my sessions. And of course I can shoot digital relentlessly with no concerns for budgeting”, he says.
“When I shot Syd Barrett, it took four or five sessions to produce 150 images. Shooting Kabuki Theatre in Japan last year for a week using a digital camera, I produced some 6,000 photos. The advantage of digital is that I have the ability to shoot many cuts and freely edit and manage them”.
