Patrons...
The Syd Barrett Trust is managed by Escape Artists (UK Charity No. 1086004) under the direction of Rosemary Breen (nee Barrett).
Rock was instrumental in creating many other key rock ‘n roll images such as album covers for Syd Barrett’s ‘The Madcap Laughs’, Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’ and ‘Coney Island Baby’, Iggy and the Stooges’ ‘Raw Power’, Queen’s ‘Queen II (recreated for their classic music video ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) and ‘Sheer Heart Attack’, the Ramones ‘End of the Century’ and Joan Jett’s ‘I Love Rock ‘N Roll’, among many others. He was the chief photographer on the films ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ , ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ and 'Shortbus'.. He also produced and directed the seminal music videos for Bowie to be found on Bowie’s ‘Sound and Vision’ DVD collection: ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, ‘Jean Genie’, ‘Space Oddity’, and ‘Life On Mars’. In recent years he has published a series of books, many based on his classic images: A Photographic Record 1969-1980 (Century 22 Books 1995), Glam: An Eyewitness Account(foreword by David Bowie)(Omnibus Books, Spring 2006)), Psychedelic Renegades / Syd Barrett (Genesis Publications 2002), Moonage Daydream / Ziggy Stardust (with David Bowie)(Genesis Publications), Rock ‘n Roll Eye (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography 2003), Killer Queen (with Brian May and Roger Taylor) (Genesis publications 2003), Picture This – Debbie Harry & Blondie (foreword by Debbie Harry) (Omnibus Books 2004), Raw Power – Iggy & The Stooges (foreword by Iggy Pop) (Omnibus Books 2005). Rocky Horror (foreword by Richard O'Brien) (Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Autumn 2006), Classic Queen (Sterling Press, Autumn 2007), Tamashii: Mick Rock Meets Kanzaburo (Kabuki Theatre Photos) (Hachette Fujingaho, Japan, April 2007), Psychedelic Renegades (Gingko Press, Autumn 2007). Upcoming publication: Exposures - a 35 year retrospective (Palazzo Editions, Autumn 2009). Mick’s massive 2003 (186 prints) retrospective exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography was dubbed ‘one of the finest collections of pop art to ever reach these shores’ in the local press. Mick Rock’s enthusiasm for his art has remained undimmed and he has continues to capture the musical spirit of succeeding eras through his work with musicians of the 1980’s and 1990’s and the new millennium. His 150 print exhibition at Manchester, England's Urbis Cultural Centre which ran from Sept 2005 to Jan 2006 was voted Manchester's #1 exhibition for 2006, and after reviewing it the London Times dubbed him ' the music world's top snapper'. In the feature Mick, talking about how he shoots, is quoted:"I've never felt like a voyeur, although I've certainly done plenty of looking! I work from the inside out. Like a cook I gather all the ingredients and keep mixing and stirring and tasting until this kind of effluvia starts to rise, then I'm off to the races. It's an addictive kind of a feeling that I need a regular shot of otherwise I don't feel right..." He received the Diesel U Music Legends Award for his contribution to Music in autum 2006. He has had major exhibitions in London, Liverpool, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Oslo, Stockholm, Rotterdam, San Francisco with upcoming ones for 2008 in Las Vegas, Dublin, Amsterdam, and Auckland NZ. His recent subjects include The Killers, The Scissor Sisters, Michael Stipe , Kate Moss, The YeahYeahYeahs, The Chemical Brothers, Razorlight, Queens of the Stone Age, New Order, Daft Punk, Duran Duran,The Editors, the Magic Numbers, Kasabian, Snow Patrol, The Fratellis, The Shins, The Kooks, Alejandro Escovedo, Mika, The Klaxons, Peaches, Fat Joe, Rhymefest, Nas, Sienna Miller, Tom Stoppard and old friends Bowie, Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Joan Jett and Iggy Pop. Apart from music, my great loves are literature (I’m a member of the Keats/Shelley Memorial Association), rugby (I’m a passionate supporter and season ticket-holder at Leicester Tigers), number theory (I’m participating in the search for large prime numbers) and the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (I’m an Associate of the SETI project in California). I’ve done a fair amount of cycling and running, and next year am running the London and New York marathons (I’ve run London twice before). I studied Chemistry at University in an attempt to pinpoint the exact location of an electron – my maths was never good enough to understand why this is impossible. In my day job I work in the telecommunications industry, where I am working hard to build a “happiness-centred business” inspired by, amongst others, people as diverse as Dr. Paddi Lund, Lance Armstrong and Mother Theresa. |
Often referred to as The Man Who Shot the Seventies, legendary rock and roll photographer Mick Rock first met David Bowie in early 1972. Most of the memorable images of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust were shot by Mick Rock in his capacity as the official Bowie photographer. 
I live with my wife and two very small fish in the village of Redbourn. I’ve just finished writing a book inspired by Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd and how they wrote the soundtrack to my life – it’s a ramble on all of my great passions and the part their music played.