Mick Rock
Legendary rock photographer Mick Rock is often referred to as ‘The Man Who Shot the Seventies’, for his iconic images of Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Queen, the Sex Pistols, The Ramones and Blondie. Mick has created many key rock ‘n’ roll images, including the cover photographs for Queen’s Queen II (recreated for their classic music video ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) and Sheer Heart Attack.
Mick recalls his first impression of Queen: “They knew they had the magic. That was firmly imprinted on me. And having told me how good they were, they played me the music – it was Queen II, which they had just finished recording. They asked me to describe it, and I said: ‘It’s Bowie meets Led Zeppelin.’ That was good; they wanted to work with me, but they wanted to know that I got it. They were picky from the get-go. It was trial by chatter…”
“There was something slightly otherworldly about them. To me they look mythological. I never saw them as inhuman, just more like fantastic creatures, chimaeras in the pre-Raphaelite world. I was soaked in that stuff.” – Mick Rock
Michael Putland
Michael Putland passed away in 2019 and sales of his photographs are suspended for the time being.
We expect to offer estate authorised limited editions of his work soon.
Kai Schäfer
Kai Schäfer is an acclaimed German photographer with a passion for vinyl records and iconic turntables. His celebrated ‘WORLDRECORDS’ project has been creating waves in his homeland. Kai’s monumental artworks create a talking point in any room in which they feature – particularly in large formats, which can be up to 82 inches / 210 cm wide. Each artwork features a key album or single on a classic turntable, photographed from a direct overhead position using a special lighting system designed by Kai to reveal rich details in the vinyl and the turntable. He has created one Queen limited edition so far – A Night At The Opera– which you can see here, but Kai will also undertake personal commissions to photograph there Queen record of your choice one one of his range of turntables. Check out his work here.
Neal Preston
Neal Preston has been taking photographs most of his life and his extensive collection covers some of music’s greatest moments and personalities. His love of photography began in his early teens. As Neal explains: “Some kids get behind the wheel of a car at 14 or 15 and know instinctively what the clutch does, what the brakes do. When I got my first camera, I knew what to do”.
On photographing Queen Neal says, “I spent a lot of time on the road with Queen, and Freddie was, without question, a photographer’s dream subject.”
One of Neal’s best known photographs is of Freddie Mercury at London’s Wembley Stadium. “Sometimes, you just get it right and everything falls into place perfectly. I recently looked over the original proof sheet and realised that this was the third frame I’d shot that day. I could have taken the rest of the day off.” – Neal Preston
Martyn Goddard
Martyn Goddard became a regular face on the New Wave music scene of the seventies and early eighties. This was an era of LP picture discs with serious budgets requiring creative photography. Martyn made album cover photographs for The Jam, Blondie, The Cure and others over the course of a 20 year career.
Martyn’s introduction to Queen came in 1975 via the PR at Elton John’s Rocket Records. Martyn explains “Elton’s manager John Reid had recently taken over the management of Queen, who had by this time become stratospheric. I had a good portfolio of images of the band playing live at Hammersmith Odeon in 1974, which Disc magazine had run as a cover story, so the management assigned me to photograph the band’s Hyde Park and Cardiff Castle gigs.”
