In 1972 David Bowie released the concept album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” when he was 25 years old. He showed himself to an astonished world as an artificial figure in glitter and blurred the boundaries between male and female in a glamorous self-presentation. Witness the transformation was the London photographer Mick Rock, his compatriot whom he trusted and whom he made his personal photographer for 1972/73.
“The Rise of David Bowie 1972–1973” by Mick Rock (photographer), Barney Hoskyns and Michael Bracewell (authors), Taschen Verlag, (German, English, French), 300 pages, 30 euros. Can be ordered here.
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Five years after David Bowie, photographer Mick Rock has also died. His death was announced through his official Instagram and Twitter channels. “As a man fascinated by images, he sucked visual beings through his lens and immersed himself in their art, creating some of the greatest photos rock music has ever seen. Anyone who knew Mick had to love him. He was a Mythical creatures as we will never see it again, “it says in a post.
Last year Taschen Verlag published an illustrated book that bundles Rock’s recordings by David Bowie. The selection of motifs began during Bowie’s lifetime. “There was probably no living photographer who came as close to Bowie as Mick Rock”, wrote the British “Vogue” about the photo book, which shows all the delicacy of the artist, but also his strength and rousing energy. Rock experienced the phase around Bowie’s fifth record up close.
Mick Rock photographed David Bowie’s transformation
“The album tells the story of Ziggy Stardust, the symbol of a promiscuous rock star marked by drug excesses, whose concern for humanity, the proclamation of the message of love and peace, ultimately fails because of his dissolute lifestyle, which divides him and his fans leads a personal abyss “, the story of Ziggy Stardust is summed up. David Bowie’s alter ego wore dyed red hair, was heavily made up and dressed androgynous – lived decadence.
For the thirtieth anniversary of the album, decadence was revived in a special way: four pieces from “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” were sent far away into space using high-powered lasers. Bowie fans decided which one in an online poll. They chose: “Five Years”, “Starman”, “Ziggy Stardust” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”.