Gered Mankowitz (born 3 August 1946) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
photographer
A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographe ...
who focused his career in the
music industry
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
. He has worked with a range of artists from
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
to
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
, and in other divisions of the photography industry, including
fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
, advertising, news, and private photography. He works from his own
gallery
Gallery or The Gallery may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Art gallery
** Contemporary art gallery
Music
* Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s
Albums
* ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album
* ''Gallery'' (Gr ...
in North London.
Life and career
Mankowitz was born as the first of four sons on 3 August 1946 in London, England, to the English writer
Wolf Mankowitz
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— '' Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustm ...
and Ann Margaret Seligman. After attending multiple schools throughout his education, Mankowitz dropped out of school at 15 years of age, without any proper qualifications. However, his natural photography gifts were discovered on a school trip to the
Netherlands
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, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
by the photographer Tom Blau. Blau offered Mankowitz an apprenticeship, and after a few months on the job, he had worked in all the departments, and began taking assignments. In 1962, Mankowitz began taking photos professionally in
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
, and when he returned to London, he took a position in the Parisian fashion world, but quickly realized that that style of photography was not for him. In 1963, he broke into the music photography industry, and felt at home being able to work with artists his own age. At the end of that same year, Mankowitz opened his own studio.
After a few months, Mankowitz began working with
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
and
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
, and was asked to go on tour with
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
. After his stint on tour, he had the opportunity to work with
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
,
Free,
Traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
,
The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
,
The Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
,
Soft Machine
Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...
,
Slade
Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...
,
Gary Glitter,
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...
,
Doctors of Madness
Doctors of Madness were a British protopunk art rock band active as a recording and touring band from 1975 until late 1978. They found cult level acclaim and recognition in the 70s, but had little commercial success. Since then they have come ...
,
Sweet
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...
,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
,
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...
,
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, heavy metal band
Budgie and
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
. In 1982, Mankowitz was featured in an exhibition at London's Photographer's Gallery, and had his work viewed by over 16,000 people. This exhibition then toured the U.K. for 2 years. For the next 22 years, Mankowitz was based in his North London Studio, mainly working in the advertising industry, and contributing to major publications. He continues to work in the music industry, regularly works for newspapers and magazines, and his work is shown and sold in galleries throughout the world.
Influence and contributions
When asked if he thought that his work influenced the image of the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
, Mankowitz stated:
I think I contributed a lot when I did the cover of the album ''Between the Buttons
''Between the Buttons'' is the fifth British and seventh American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and on 11 February in the US as the follow-up to '' Aftermath''. It reflected the S ...
''. My contribution in the earlier sessions was based more on an honesty, a desire to communicate something about the Stones as people and not try and mask their personalities with any sort of technical or theatrical embellishments. I think that that’s why (their manager) Andrew (Loog Oldham) liked the pictures and why the band were happy to work with me for such a long period of time, because I photographed them as they were. And then when it came to ''Between the Buttons'', I felt confident enough as a photographer and in my relationship with them to actually make a contribution.
Mankowitz's photographs of
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
did not gain popularity until several years after they were taken. They were taken in black and white, which was Mankowitz's typical style, but Hendrix's manager insisted on colour photographs for album covers. Therefore, the pictures were not revealed to the public until 1992, when Mankowitz had his first
solo exhibition in London. The collection of Jimi Hendrix photos have since appeared on books, record covers, and magazines.
In regards to a photo taken by Mankowitz,
John Varvatos
John Varvatos (born 1954) is an American menswear designer.
Early life
The Varvatos family is originally from the village of Poulata on the island of Kefalonia, Greece. Varvatos was born in Detroit and grew up in Allen Park, Michigan.
He ...
, a men's
fashion designer
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
, wrote: "This is from a series of photos Gered Mankowitz did with Jimi in 1967 at Mason's Yard in London. That series may be the most important pictures to me. I have a big, limited-edition print of that photo behind my desk. I look at it every day when I come in. There was nobody that looked like that when Jimi came on the scene, and there are not very many people who could pull that look off."
Works
Photographs gallery
Photographic books
* ''Breaking Stones: 1963-1965 A Band on the Brink of Superstardom'', with
Terry O'Neill, 2016.
* ''Rock and Roll Photography'', with
Brian Southall, 2015.
* ''50 Years of Rock and Roll Photography'', with
Brian Southall,
Peter York
Peter York (born Peter Wallis; 1944) is a British management consultant, author and broadcaster best known for writing ''Harpers & Queen's'' ''The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook'' with Ann Barr. He has worked as a columnist for ''The Indepe ...
, and
Annie Lennox
Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...
, 2014.
* ''The Experience: Jimi Hendrix at Mason’s Yard'', 2013.
* ''Rolling Stones (One on One)'', with
Sean Egan
Sean Egan is a software engineer at Google, where he worked on Google Talk and is currently working on Google Maps. He is the former project leader of Pidgin, a popular instant messaging client. He is also the author of the book ''Open Source ...
, 2012.
* ''The Experience: Jimi Hendrix at Mason's Yard'', with
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
, 2010.
* ''The Rolling Stones-Out of Their Heads: 1965-1967/1982: Photographs'', 2006.
* ''Chapters of Gold: The Life of Mary in Mosaics'', with
Rachel Billington
Lady Rachel Mary Billington (''née'' Pakenham; born 11 May 1942) is a British author, the third daughter of the 7th Earl and Countess of Longford; both parents were writers, as was her aunt, Christine Longford.
Career
Billington worked in ...
, 2005.
* ''Jimi Hendrix: The Complete Masons Yard Photo Sessions'', 2004.
* ''The Stones 65-67'', with
Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style.
Early life
Loog Oldha ...
, 2002.
* ''I-Contact'', 2002.
* ''Masons Yard to Primrose Hill'', 1995.
* ''The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1967'', with Brian Hogg, 1991.
* ''Pop Stars Portraits of the 50s 60s 70s and 80s'', with
Harry Hammond, 1990.
* ''Satisfaction: The Rolling Stones 1965-1967'', 1984.
* ''Hit Parade: A 35-year Perspective of Music Performers Through the Photography of Harry Hammond and Gered Mankowitz'', with Harry Hammond, 1984.
* ''Pop Shots: A 35-year Perspective of Music Performers Through the Photography of Harry Hammond and Gered Mankowitz'', with Harry Hammond, 1984.
Notes
References
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*
*
*
*
External links
Official Site of Gered MankowitzGallery of Mankowitz' Photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mankowitz, Gered
1946 births
Living people
Photographers from London
Concert photographers
Place of birth missing (living people)
English people of Russian-Jewish descent