The Hidden Photobooks: Moonage Daydream
Moonage Daydream
Mick Rock
Cassell Illustrated, London, 2005
This is the last post in our short series.
Back in the early 70s, when David Bowie was evangelising the then virtually unknown (in the UK at least) Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, the photographer Mick Rock (yes, his given surname) was doing the exact same thing for Bowie himself.
Rock first encountered Bowie in 1972, and in photographing him at home, or in rehearsal, or on tour, earned himself the ultimate accolade from Bowie’s then manager, Tony Defries: “David thinks you see him the way he sees himself, you see him through his own eyes.”
As well as the wealth of photographs (covering the Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane period of 1972-1973), what really sells this book are the extensive annotations to those photographs provided by Bowie himself.
Bowie’s death on January 10th last year, occurring just two days after his 69th birthday and the simultaneous release of his final album “Blackstar”, had all the trappings of just another act for another adopted role (Lazarus?), leaving in his wake the lingering sense he might at any moment re-appear, with new material.
When not part of the current display, you can find it here: folio ML420.B754B7 (music and books on music – literature on music – biography – individual – singers)
-MG
Come along to the Main Library on North Street to take a look for yourself. This book is part of The Hidden Photobooks display which is running from 1 – 30 September and is part of the St Andrews Photography Festival. Everyone is welcome and the event is free. Check out the Library Instagram for photographs Marcus has chosen from his own work to accompany these blog posts.