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Mick Rock Exposed

Rock by name, very much rock by nature

By Danielle de Wolfe

10 November 2010

As a rule we approve of a chap’s surname hinting at their chosen profession; it’s something that there should be much more of (note to self: put it high on our manifesto when we hit the political campaign trail).

Consequently, it’s one of the reasons we love music photographer Mick Rock. With a name like that he was never going to be a solicitor or a dentist, although he could have been a daredevil climber.

Anyway, we digress. From his first break shooting his old mucker Syd Barrett, through his association with glam rock (David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed were all regular assignments) and then onto punk and new wave, he went onto to become known as ‘the man who shot the Seventies’. Thankfully, he didn’t stop at the end of that decade and today he’s still shooting the likes of The Killers, Gossip, MGMT, Snoop Dogg and Q-Tip.

Neatly timed to coincide with the release of his latest book, Exposed: The Faces of Rock’n’Roll, a new exhibition at London’s Idea Generation Gallery pays tribute to Rock’s bold, daring, affectionate and always celebratory style of photography. Rock on.

Mick Rock| Rock Music in association with Zippo, 11th November – 16th January at Idea Generation Gallery, www.ideageneration.co.uk