Guido Harari is one of the most renowned Italian photographers and still one of the best kept secrets on the international scene
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TOM WAITS, cafe, Paris, 1992 Guido Harari recalls: This photograph comes from the same sitting in Paris as the photograph of Tom running with a cape on. Again, this was 1992 and Tom was promoting his Bone Machine album in a café in the beautiful Place des Vosges. He insisted I shoot him while he was having brunch. He couldnt care less about his face dismorphing while he was munching away. I love that crazy and inquisitive Van Gogh look in his eyes. Time seems suspended for a fraction of time: what next?"
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From the mid-Seventies, until he died, Ive often done tour photography in Europe for Bill Graham, the legendary rock entrepreneur, particularly for Santana. We were both Dylanites and when he launched a European tour of Dylan with Carlos Santana in 1984, he called me again. This portrait was taken in Sirmione, near Verona, in Italy on the eve of the first date of the tour. The nice thing was that lots of my photos ended up on the official tour program and on Dylans Real Live album cover.
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Jeff Buckley was quite impressed when I told him I did photograph his father Tim back in 1974. What a remarkable and unique talent he and his father had in common and how ominous this photo is now knowing we would soon lose him. This was shot during the rehearsals in a club in Milano, on the eve of his first ever Italian concert.
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Another hero of mine and a true original, John Martyn agreed to be photographed in his backyard, somewhere in London. He was nervous and distraught as he was going through the motions of separation from his wife Beverly. By the way, is that a spliff?
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This is one of my signature photographs. Peter Gabriel in full Shock The Monkey make-up in a hotel gents in Sanremo where he was due to perform that song at the famous music festival. A bunch of images from this shoot later appeared on tour programs and on the remastered edition of Peter's 4th album.
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Nick Cave in the 90s at the time of Henrys Dream. He remained speechless for the whole shoot and was only worried by his swelling right hand which had been stung by a bee.
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The Police during the Reggatta De Blanc tour. The set was improvised in their hotel, the shoot was very quick as they were restless and very self-conscious of their quickly growing superstardom. They used several of these photos for the 1981 official calendar.
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Meeting Robert Wyatt was one of the most moving experiences ever. While in Milano to promote his Wrong Movements book, he suddenly started crying as he heard some Soft Machine music playing in the background. He appeared as a very fragile and desperate man. As we wandered in the park with his wife Alfie we saw this huge leafless tree. As I positioned him and his wheelchair near the tree, I thought I'd shoot him as one with the old tree to get an idea of solitary but fierce strength.
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Between 1978 and 1982 Dire Straits became instantly huge in Italy, let alone worldwide. I shot the band many times and they allowed me to stay with them at Power Station studios in New York while recording the Making Movies album. I got to shoot Mark while he was actually recording his guitar parts on Telegraph Road. We got on very well and he wasnt bothered by my noisy presence in the studio with him.
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This is the morning after a wild gig at Hammersmith Odeon on the Rastaman Vibration tour. Besides taking pictures, I did interview Marley for the Italian press and had a really hard time getting through his thick Jamaican patois. However I was mesmerized by the man and his traveling family, as well as the heavy smell of Jamaican cuisine and ganja.
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Guido Harari recalls: This is one of my favorite photographs. It was taken in Place des Vosges, in Paris, in 1992, while Tom was promoting his Bone Machine album. I had already used my time as granted by his record company and was having a coffee chatting with a French photographer friend. When his time came to shoot Tom, my friend invited me to attend the sitting. This was still the age of analogue photography and, once he finished his roll of film, he had to stop and reload his camera. Restless and provocative as ever, Tom tore down the photographers backdrop and, using it as a cape, he started running up and down this courtyard. The guy was so shocked that he couldn't capture this unexpected moment of madness, but I did instead. I started running with Tom, chasing and teasing him all along and managed to get this shot within a couple of rolls of film. Tom loved the shot. I don't know about the other guy!
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TOM WAITS in the kitchen, Santa Rosa, California, 1999 Guido Harari recalls: “In 1999 Tom was promoting a new record, “Mule Variations”, but wouldn’t move from his headquarters in California. So he had press and photographers flown in from all over the world to Santa Rosa. The tiny Chinese restaurant seemed like his natural hangout and he didn’t seem inclined to even go outside the door to be photographed. Suddenly he grabbed the owner’s apron in a frenzy and dragged me in the kitchen, where he proceeded to fool around with pots and pans, pretending he was some kind of demented chef. My motor drive was smoking from action and this shot captures the zaniness of it all.”
