In 1967 Max borrowed his dad’s Pentax and took the only shots of Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood debuting at the Marquee Club and Fleetwood Mac at their Windsor Festival debut a few months later. The following year he played his one and only gig as lead guitar in a school music competition – in spite of the phenomenal audience reaction they weren’t allowed to win as ‘it was only a blues improvisation!'
Turning to photographing his heroes at gigs again, Max contributed to the predominantly monochrome music press at the time for the next decade and a half. Shots appeared in Beat Instrumental, Melody Maker, New Musical Express, Sounds and Record Mirror. Soon after this, whilst occasional gig coverage was maintained, a new road opened up in the form of documentary filming and so Max resigned himself to a career as a video-cameraman despite his slightly epic start in rock stills.
With an equally intense devotion to Romantic Art, Max has written books and articles on artists from William Blake to the Pre-Raphaelites and beyond as a specialist art-historian
The Clash giving it all onstage at The Music Machine (Camden Palace), London in 1978
Elvis Costello and The Attractions live at the Dominion Theatre, London, 1978
Jeff Beck performing an onstage solo at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1981.
Bono from U2 performing live on their Joshua Tree Tour in Rotterdam, Holland in July 1987
Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays captured in Yellow 2 Studios, Stockport in 1986
Unique contact sheet print of AC/CD's, Angus Young by photographer David Corio, taken at Hammersmith Odeon, London, November 1st, 1979
Sir Elton John is an English pianist, singer-songwriter, composer & pop icon who has sold millions of records and won countless awards.
Van Morrison is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter and musician who is usually known by the name "Van the Man" to his fans.
Ozzy Osbourne is a singer, songwriter & television personality who rose to prominence as the lead vocalist of the band Black Sabbath.
As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa's diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often difficult to categorize.
A photographic celebration of Manchester's rock music history. Free exhibition at the University of Manchester
The Beatles were one of the most popular & influential bands of all time. Here we showcase our collection of their iconic fine art prints
The USA has given us many of the world's greatest music artists - we celebrate the best of the best
For eight years photographer Brian Duffy worked with David Bowie and shot his most iconic and enduring images. View his fantastic collection
