MICHAEL PUTLAND
2014-11-03Michael Putland: A Life in Music – 50 Years on the Road spans five decades of musical heroes and genres, the exhibition features unguarded portraiture of the off-duty performer – John Lennon sits cross-legged in his socks. Elsewhere, bands looking for their first front cover stare down the camera with a studied sneer, imagining their faces on bedroom walls; The Clash glare from a New York dockyard – not looking quite as fearless as Tina Turner onstage in ’73.
“It has been a fantastic ride through an incredible period of music history, which combined my two great loves … music and photography. Little did I appreciate, when my Uncle Alan encouraged my photography back in the 1950s, that this would lead me to photographing nearly all of my heroes … and thrilled to be still finding new ones. A great never ending journey.”
Michael Putland
From the editorial work for Disc and Music Echo, Sounds, Smash Hits and Q magazine amongst others, to the 1973 tour with The Rolling Stones that led to a long-standing relationship working with the band, Michael has also shot prodigiously for major record labels including CBS, Warner, Elektra, Polydor, Columbia Records and EMI. Relocating to New York in 1977, it was here that Michael founded the photo agency Retna.
Opposite – Gene Simmons of Kiss, backstage in dressing room, New York, February 1977
Exhibition runs through to November 22nd, 2014
Getty Images Gallery
46 Eastcastle Street
London
W1W 8DX
