Photographer Mick Rock Has Died

Seminal rock photographer Mick Rock has died.

News of his passing was confirmed overnight, with a full statement from his team offering the first tribute towards a key figure in the evolution of rock photography.

It opens: “Those who had the pleasure of existing in his orbit, know that Mick was always so much more than ’The Man Who Shot The 70s.’ He was a photographic poet — a true force of nature who spent his days doing exactly what he loved, always in his own delightfully outrageous way.”

Mick Rock was born in 1948, and was drawn into the orbit of a post-Pink Floyd Syd Barrett while studying at Cambridge.

Pulled into a world of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery, he was close to David Bowie, shooting the cover of his album ‘Pin Ups’ and piecing together the video for ‘The Man Who Shot The World’.

Drawn to outsiders, Mick Rock shot the cover of Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’ and the artwork for Iggy & The Stooges’ seminal pre-punk statement ‘Raw Power’ within days of each other.

Later shooting iconic images for Queen, he remained active right to the very end. Clash spoke to Mick Rock multiple times – most recently for a cover story exploring David Bowie’s alien nature – and found him to be a humble, hilarious, irascible interviewee, a bon vivant with an incredible memory for detail.

Rest in power.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mick Rock (@therealmickrock)

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Photo Credit: Nathalie Rock