Intro:
Today, we have a special edition all about the life and work of photographer Kevin Cummins, whose shots of Joy Division, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Happy Mondays, The Smiths, Manic Street Preachers, New Order, Polly Harvey and many, many others you will have ripped from NME in the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s and stuck on your wall. He’s arguably the most iconic photographer of his post-punk generation, though the only people who’d argue with that are probably other photographers of his generation.
Excerpt:
"Tell us about your favourite photographic commissions please.
When you are working with bands, who have no concept of time, you have to have lots of patience. I usually describe my job as 90% sitting in hotels lobbies waiting for people to turn up and 10% photography. Going to Havana, Cuba with Shaun Ryder and Bez was a favourite. Especially as years later, Shaun had no idea he’d even been to Cuba.
A week in Japan with Morrissey was another favourite. I was told Morrissey would get in touch with me when I arrived. He didn’t. The next day, I decided to kill some time by going out to take some photos of Tokyo, just for myself. Moz got in the lift on the floor below mine. He saw the camera and said, ‘Oh, are we doing the photos now?’ then came out for the day with me. When we’d finished, we went to Virgin Records - and he was mobbed. We jumped in a cab but neither of us had the Japanese translation of the hotel with us and we sat there, helpless. A teenage fan came over and got in the cab with us, and not only told the cab driver where we were staying, but which rooms we were in too."
The New Cue #19 May 17: Lost In Music special featuring Kevin Cummins, Oasis, Mark E Smith, Suede
17 May, 2021
thenewcue.substack.com
More Cummins gubbins; nice tales of Japan & Dublin, plus pic ~