1. Unit 57: Photography and
Photographic Practice
Research of other
photographers work
2. Photographer:
• Mick Rock is a music
photographer who was born in
1948 in London. He is known
well for his photography of
rock and roll legends such as
Queen, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed,
The Sex Pistols, The
Ramones and many other
famous rock and roll stars. He
also spent a lot of time
working as David Bowie’s
official photographer where
he managed to capture a lot of
very famous images of David
Bowie
4. Choose an image…. Describe it
• This picture of David Bowie was
taken by mick rock in around
1970 This picture is of an early
David Bowie before he really
developed his style, this picture
therefore was a big game
changer for him and obviously
used to publicise himself in the
style he wished to be portrayed.
The picture works well to show
the artist in a rebellious light with
the undone suit and the
cigarette making the picture
look very smooth.
5. Composition
• The picture was intended to come across as a stylish image with
qualities to make it differ from normal music photography for example
the style of the artist in the photo is a cool and rebellious style. The
black and white edit makes this appear even more obvious. By that time
colour photos had been invented, it was simply that the style of the
picture suited black and white far more. The Photo is a very close up
photo for a simple photo of an artist, the photographer clearly intended
this because it appears that some of the photo has been cut out rather
than the original image being that close up.
6. Techniques used
• The obvious style of most of
mick rocks photography is a
black and white, dressed up,
unusual look. The example
photo on the right displays this
perfectly, as a photographer
he chooses to work with
specific artists such as the
example who work well with
such a style. The photographer
clearly uses methods of
photography such as rule of
thirds in his photos making the
actual image itself look in
proportion and professional.
7. Strengths & Weaknesses
• In terms of photography style,
Mick Rock has a very distinctive
and famous style that shows
good continuity throughout
almost all of his work. I personally
admire the his work shown in the
image on the top to the right,
displaying an old fashioned look
on two famous artists living their
lives out and getting along. The
Style of black and white makes
the picture look smoother and
more effective. The work that I
wouldn’t take for my own work is
his more surreal and modern
imagery such as the image on
the bottom right, the style is too
over the top unusual for it to be
taken seriously.
