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Virginia Turbett

Virginia Turbett (born 17 August 1957 in rural West Sussex) is a British rock music and social reportage photographer best known for her photographs of bands, fans and street culture between the years of 1977 and 1987. At primary school, at the age of ten, sporting a Radio 1 launch badge from Tony Blackburn, Virginia was already a dedicated and devout music fan who spent three nights in July1967 crying into her pillow because her Mum and Dad wouldn’t let her go to see the Monkees at Wembley. She had access to her elder brother’s singles collection and played Manfred Mann’s Do Wah Diddy, the Animals House of the Rising Sun and the Searchers Needles and Pins repetitively on the ‘radiogram’. She soon started collecting more eclectic records of her own: Leonard Cohen, Santana, Love, English folk, Jefferson Airplane and the Doors but in the summer of 1971 her life changed when she met three guys from Bristol who introduced Virginia to Hunky Dory on a cassette, in a tent on a North Cornwall cliff top. “I went home and ordered the entire back catalogue, then advance ordered Ziggy Stardust. Waiting for the albums to arrive in the record shop in Midhurst or, after Virgin started, be delivered to my very rural home was as exciting as Thursday mornings when I’d get off the school bus and go straight to the newsagent for my NME. - my bible. I would skip off school, pay all my babysitting money to go and queue for tickets at venues far away to get best seats at the front. I loved Alex Harvey, Beefheart, Lou Reed etc but Bowie was the main man of course and I saw him many times including at Hammersmith on July 3rd 1973 when he killed Ziggy."

In 1977 Virginia was asked by a good friend to photograph the Pistols recording Pretty Vacant for Slash Magazine. “I had to go to a camera shop on Tottenham Court Rd to get them to change the film for me”. A year, and many punk gigs, later a chance meeting with a journalist from Sounds on the Right To Work March led to a collaboration which lasted a few years photographing Punk, Rock, Pop, Heavy Metal, Mods, New Romantics, skinheads, Two-Tone, Ska, Reggae and the and fans, style and fashion of the time. At the same time Virginia was working on a left wing paper photographing social and political stories all over the country. In 1979 Virginia was asked by Ian Cranna, Editor of Smash Hits, to photograph features and interviews and continued working on the the magazine until she gave up photography to look after her two children in 1987. Virginia contributed to many magazines of the late 70’s and 80’s including The Face, Sounds, Smash Hits, Flexipop and Record Mirror creating images of world famous artists and musicians including the Pistols, Clash, Blondie, Iggy, Andy Warhol, Frank Zappa and Nick Cave.

Virginia now works from her home in South Devon selling her extensive and unique archive and contributing to publications, films and TV, exhibitions and record covers all over the world.

 

 

Jam, The (JA001VT)

The Jam

Paul Weller, with The Jam, plugging in his guitar live onstage at the Rainbow Theatre, London in April 1980.

Prices from £295.00
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Madness (MA001VT)

Madness

Madness captured in a London park in November 1979

Prices from £295.00
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Jam, The ( JA002VT)

The Jam

Paul Weller, with The Jam, performing live onstage at Guildford Civic Hall in June 1981

Prices from £295.00
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Prince (PC001VT)

Prince

Prince posing backstage at the Paradiso, Amsterdam during his Dirty Mind Tour in 1981

Prices from £295.00
print
Sex Pistols (SP001VT)

Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols on the set for the 'Pretty Vacant' video shoot at the ITN Studios, London in June 1977

Prices from £295.00
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Featured Prints

Cat Anderson (CATA001FRAN)

Cat Anderson

Cat was renowned for his playing in the extreme high register. He claimed that he developed his screaming high notes to impress the girls.

Prices from £354.17
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Nick Cave (NC001STDO)

Nick Cave

Nick Cave relaxing in a Brazilian rooftop bar with Saõ Paolo as the backdrop. Taken in February 1994

Prices from £166.67
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Arctic Monkey (ARCM001KW)

Arctic Monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys photographed by Kevin Westenberg at the Palácio da Justiça, Lisbon for Mojo Magazine in September 2022.

Prices from £1,600.00
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Tina Turner at Holborn Studios, London in 1983 photographed by Brian Aris

Tina Turner

Tina Turner photographed by Brian Aris at Holborn Studios in London in 1983.

Prices from £333.33
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Who. The (WH001MPUT)

The Who

Pete Townshend throws his guitar live whilst The Who perform at Madison Square Gardens in the US, 1979.

Prices from £595.00
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Nile Rodgers, Chic at the Glastonbury Festival in 2017 photographed by Jill Furmanovsky

Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers enjoying the crowd when Chic played the Glastonbury Festival in 2017

Prices from £416.67
print

Featured Artists

Clash, The

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk.

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Libertines, The

The Libertines

The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar).

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Pulp

Pulp

Pulp are considered to be one of the most innovative and popular bands of the late 20th century and key figures of Britpop

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Devo

Devo

Devo is an American rock band, formed in 1973 their music mingles science fiction themes, surrealist humor & satirical social commentary.

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Rolling Stones, The

The Rolling Stones

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.

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, artist & writer. He has been influential in popular music & culture for more than five decades.

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Featured Collections

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***New Arrivals***

Here are the very latest prints we have added to our collection. We hope you love them as much as we do.

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Contact Sheets Print Collection

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Jill Furmanovsky Collection

Jill Furmanovsky Collection

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David Bowie photographed with a wolf taken by Markus Klinko in 2022. This image is known as The Protector

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Stunning collection of limited edition prints of David Bowie created by award-winning photographer Markus Klinko.

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Gered Mankowitz Print Collection

Gered Mankowitz Print Collection

Discover our specially curated collection of limited edition prints from renowned music photographer Gered Mankowitz

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