In Pete Smith's own wprds, " It was mid sixties London. I was a young art student and part time roady with Alexis Korner when his friend John Mayall asked, “Pete, you’ve got a camera, come and shoot our record sleeve”. The Album was “Crusade”; my first job as a music photographer. A few months later I worked with John again. This time on “Bare Wires”.
My passion for music and photography lead to a string of album and touring assignments. Through the following decades I shot dozens of album covers many of which I also designed and art directed. Some of the earlier ones are still to be seen as reissues on CD and vinyl. I was born and educated in Norfolk. After a short spell at art school in Norwich I found a place studying painting and print making at The City and Guilds School of Art in Kennington, London. By the mid 60s camera and darkroom replaced pencil and paints, record sleeves become the canvas, music festivals my domain.
An overland journey to India in the early 1970s led to an exhibition at The Photographers Gallery London. Music and then theatre remained the core input to my photography and portraiture. Film was added through a long association with The NFT covering The Guardian Lectures, events and film festivals. The 90s saw a resurgence of my music photography; stage sets of The Stones during the Steele Wheels tour, and The Wall in Berlin.
The National Portrait Gallery have acquired a few of my pictures. My portrait of Angus McBean accompanied the recent retrospective of that photographer at The NPG. From the start of my photographic career I was encouraged and inspired by my friend and photographic mentor Lewis Morley, creator of the iconic Christine Keeler/Chair photograph.
I heard The Rolling Stones were doing a gig at the Roundhouse. I didn’t have ticket or pass. Waving my camera I blagged my way in
The Jimi Hendrix Experience performing at the Woburn Music Festival in July 1968
Cream onstage at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival in the Summer, 1967
Florence Welch performing onstage at the Latitude Festival in July 2010
Frank Zappa captured in a hotel in Sussex in June 1970, holding the artwork for the latest Mothers of Invention album
I heard The Rolling Stones were doing a gig at the Roundhouse. I didn’t have ticket or pass. Waving my camera I blagged my way in
I heard The Rolling Stones were doing a gig at the Roundhouse. I didn’t have ticket or pass. Waving my camera I blagged my way in
Johnny Cash at home on his ranch in San Antonio, Texas in 1960, he always wore black, because he identified with the poor & the down trodden
'I thought of improvisation as a large ball of string (a melody as yet unravelled)'. Cover art for Phish's 1997 album Slip Stitch and Pass
Unique contact sheet print of AC/CD's, Angus Young by photographer David Corio, taken at Hammersmith Odeon, London, November 1st, 1979
As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa's diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often difficult to categorize.
Johnny Cash was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice and a trademark look, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black"
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960 and widely regarded as the most influential acts of the rock era.
Van Morrison is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter and musician who is usually known by the name "Van the Man" to his fans.
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
Welcome to our Jazz & Blues Print Collection - over 50 years of iconic images of the world's greatest Jazz & Blues musicians
For eight years photographer Brian Duffy worked with David Bowie and shot his most iconic and enduring images. View his fantastic collection
