In Stephen's own words "I started shooting live bands in Manchester in the early 80’s and then moved back down south eight years later. It was catching musicians live that I loved most."
"I shot The Smiths ‘live’ several times and sent the shots down to Rough Trade. The first show was at the Free Trade Hall and was truly magnificent. A riotous moving audience meant taking photos was hard and I only had two lenses and one roll of film. However I did manage to capture an image of Morrissey’s rear with flowers hanging from his jeans which has since been voted a famous rock shot by the NME. So a year or so later I had a call asking me to do a session with The Smiths for a possible album sleeve. This led to me take my most iconic shot, the image of The Smiths outside Salford Lads' Club that graces the inner sleeve of their classic album 'The Queen is Dead'."
Stephen's iconic image is now housed in the National Portrait Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery & the Salford Art Gallery. Other artists Stephen has shot include Prince, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, U2, John Lydon, Public Image Ltd, James Brown, Madonna, Stevie Wonder plus many more.
Kate Bush captured in 1993 during the filming for short film 'The Line, The Cross & The Curve'.
The Cure on the road in Holland and Belgium during their 1980 'Seventeen Seconds' tour.
Iconic photo of John Lennon with a flower in his eye, fondly known as 'Adoration'.
Freddie Mercury in the spotlight whilst playing the grand piano in Southampton in May, 1977.
David Bowie was a leading figure in popular music for over five decades & regarded by critics & musicians as a true innovator.
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band who were in the vanguard of the British music Invasion that became popular in the US in 1964–65.
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in 1975. Without them popular culture in the last 30+ years would be very different.
Oasis were an English rock music band formed in Manchester in 1991, to date the band have sold over 70 million records worldwide.
Here are the very latest prints we have added to our collection. We hope you love them as much as we do.
Jill Furmanovsky is one of the greatest ever rock & roll photographers with a huge archive of iconic shots of the world's best music artists
When it comes to rock photography Michael Putland has done it all, having shot the biggest name in rock & pop from Abba to Zappa.
Our contact sheet collection is a rare opportunity to look back at the hidden moments surrounding some of rocks most iconic images.
