Music fans are deluged on a daily basis with new images of their favorite performers. Along with magazine spreads, we see pictures of the bands we love (and hate) in an endless barrage of live photos on both professional and amateur blogs, while our friends are constantly tweeting and posting to Facebook their grainy, iPhone concerts shots. Scanning Dangerous Minds’ post on Brad Elterman’s fantastic photos from the ’70s and ’80s, it struck us that rock photography has become largely anonymous in the 21st century. In an attempt to separate the pros from the folks getting in your face at shows with crappy point-and-shoot, we’ve put together a list of ten rock photographers you should know — not the most famous names in the field, but a very subjective group of those whose work we’ve noticed and loved.
You might be familiar with Anton Corbijn’s recent film work (Control, The American) or his music videos for bands like Nirvana, U2, and Depeche Mode, but it was photography — particularly portraiture — that first launched his career. In Inwards and Onwards, currently on view at Amsterdam’s Foam Gallery, the Dutch photographer returns to his roots, training an intense lens on a few of his favorite artists in an examination of the creative process.
“The images are basically from the past eight years,” Corbijn explained to The New York Times back in November. “After 2002, when I did my self-portraits, there was a whole period that I started in the early ’70s that I felt I had finished. I wasn’t sure what direction to go to, so I was just taking pictures. But after a few years, it dawned on me that I was just going back to basics — taking simple black-and-white photographs of people I wanted to meet.” From a candid portrait of Alexander McQueen hiding behind a turtleneck in his studio, to a photo of a naked Iggy Pop sprawled out in Central Park, to an older shot of his one-time housemate Kate Moss, see some of our favorite black and white images from the exhibition after the jump.
1. A posthumous Michael Jackson album, Michael, will be released December 14. Its first single, called “Breaking News,” was recorded in 2007. [via MTV]
2. The New York Public Library will host a conversation between Jay-Z and Cornel West on Monday, November 15th, a day before Hova’s Decoded comes out. Tickets go on sale at noon today. [via Sound of the City]
3. Disney has signed a deal with a Chinese government company to build Shanghai Disneyland. [via LA Times]
4. Jon Stewart‘s Daily Show is now beating both Letterman and Leno in the 18-to-49 demographic. What will next week’s Conan premiere mean for all three? [via Time]
5. After ending its 12-year run in 2008, Rent will return to Broadway in June. Too soon? [via Vulture]
