Tony Mott (born Anthony Moulds, April 1956) is an English-born Australian rock and music photographer. In a career spanning more than 30 years, his photographs have appeared in local and international magazines, newspapers, and album covers. Mott is recognised as Australia's premier rock photographer and a leading worldwide exponent of the craft.
Early life
Mott was born Anthony Moulds in April 1956, child of Brian and Mary Moulds, and raised in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, England. He was a student at
Jordanthorpre Comprehensive secondary school, and trained as a chef at
Sheffield Polytechnic
Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate C ...
before arriving in Australia in 1976.
Chef's career
Mott trained as a French and pastry chef and spent 10 years working in hotels in the United Kingdom and in Australia.
He worked for six months as a chef in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
at the
Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
and at the Gazebo Hotel in
Kings Cross in 1976, before helping establish a restaurant in
Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...
. Mott then returned to England because of a limited working visa.
Mott then worked as a chef aboard the cruise ship
SS Oriana for two years, visiting more than 60 countries and developing an interest in travel and photography. Returning to Sydney, he decided to settle in Australia permanently in 1981.
Whilst resuming work as a chef at the Gazebo Hotel in Kings Cross, Mott pursued his love of music, exploring Sydney's live music scene in the evenings.
Photography career
Mott's interest in photography began in Sheffield, where he learnt basic black-and-white developing skills and explored an interest in social documentary photography whilst working as a chef.
Pennie Smith
Pennie Smith (born in London) is an English photographer, known for her photography of the rock music industry. She specialises in black-and-white photography.
Early life
Smith attended art school in Twickenham in the late 1960s, studying gra ...
, a London-based photographer who worked for music magazine ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'', was an early influence.
Sydney's live music scene
Mott's career as a rock photographer began in 1983 at the Piccadilly Hotel in Kings Cross. Mott went to see the Sydney band the
Divinyls
Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school unifo ...
on Monday nights at the hotel and began photographing the band's lead singer
Chrissy Amphlett
Christine Joy Amphlett (; 25 October 1959 – 21 April 2013) was an Australian singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the frontwoman of the rock band Divinyls. She was notable for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive hum ...
.
Band manager
Vince Lovegrove
Vincent James Lovegrove (19 March 194724 March 2012) was an Australian musician, journalist, music manager, television producer and AIDS awareness pioneer. He was a member of 1960s rock 'n' roll band The Valentines, sharing vocals with Bon Sc ...
chose one of Mott's photographs as a tour poster and from 1983 bands began approaching Mott to shoot their gigs.
Mott went on to document the Sydney music scene of the 1980s and 1990s when the city and suburbs were full of live venues and had a flourishing record industry.
Street press and magazines
Shortly after his first break with the Divinyls, Mott found work through the free Sydney paper ''On the Street'', working closely with editor Margaret Cott, later publisher of ''
Drum Media
''The Music'', (formerly known as and now incorporating ''Drum Media)'', is an online Australian music magazine. It previously existed as a street press devoted to long-form music journalism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. In ...
''. Mott was given a free rein to develop his skills as a rock 'n roll photographer with many bands. His photographs began to appear in mainstream music magazines ''Juice'', ''
Drum Media
''The Music'', (formerly known as and now incorporating ''Drum Media)'', is an online Australian music magazine. It previously existed as a street press devoted to long-form music journalism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. In ...
'', ''
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
'', ''
Juke'', ''
Creem
''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential criti ...
'', and ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''.
Mott's success is reflected in the number of magazine covers featuring his photographs. Since his first cover for the German issue of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in the early 1990s, his work has been featured on the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' 14 times.
His photographs have appeared on an estimated 900 magazine front covers.
At the height of Mott's career he was estimated to have 172 music magazines on his books, and could sell one concert photograph to 30 magazines at a time. Today 162 of those magazine titles no longer exist.
These trends mirror changes in the record industry, which in Sydney had 12 major labels in the early 1980s, down to about three in 2015.
The shrinking magazine market has seen Mott's income from this source shrink to an estimated 10%, with 10% from record companies, and the rest from band commissions.
From the 1990s Mott's photographs were also featured on album covers. Notable early covers included
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...
's ''
Dare to Be Different'' and the Beasts of Bourbon's ''
Black Milk''.
International music scene
Mott's first international portrait featured the
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 ...
.
Then in 1988
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
was touring Australia to promote his first solo album and Mott was hired as Jagger's tour photographer. This subsequently led to Mott being hired by 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 ...
and touring with them on three occasions. In the same year that Mott was hired by Jagger, he toured with
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
and
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
, establishing an international reputation.
Mott has photographed a large number of the international acts to have visited Australia.
Mott's portfolio includes the most popular names in music, including 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 ...
,
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
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 ...
,
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, and
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
, along with major Australian acts
INXS
INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...
,
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...
,
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...
,
Silverchair
Silverchair were an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...
, and the independent Sydney band scene.
Mott's portraits have become the best known images of many musicians and bands; examples include
Chrissy Amplett of the Divinyls at the Piccadilly Hotel, Kings Cross, 1983; the classic shot of
Peter Garrett
Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician.
In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...
at the
Sydney Entertainment Centre
Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the E ...
in 1985; the much published portrait of Icelandic singer
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
at the ''
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
'', 1994; the defining shot of
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
singer
Johnny Rotten
John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and agai ...
(Lydon) at the
Hordern Pavilion
Hordern Pavilion is a building located in Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the grounds of the old Sydney Showground. "The Hordern", as it is affectionally known by Sydneysiders, has been an architecturally and socially signif ...
, Sydney, 1994; and the dynamic portraits of
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...
and
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...
who sang the duet "
Where the Wild Roses Grow
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a murder ballad by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and pop singer Kylie Minogue. It is the fifth song and lead single from the band's ninth studio album, ''Murder Ballads'' (1996), released on ...
", 1996.
Music festivals
Music festivals were another fertile source of photographs for Mott from the late 1980s. Initially he visited the summer festivals in Europe and the United States. Milton Keynes, Reading, and Glastonbury were among the popular UK festivals.
A major breakthrough for Mott came in 1992 with the establishment of Australia's first Rock 'n Roll Festival, the ''
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
''. Each year Mott went on the road as the Festival toured Australia. Developing relationships with the bands he shot, he became the festival's official photographer.
Digital photography
The advent of digital technology has seen a decline in the demand for rock 'n roll photographs as fans at venues have their own digital cameras and mobile phones.
Mott sold 28 images internationally of band
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...
when he photographed them in 2000, compared to selling only three images in 2013.
Mott finally switched to a digital camera in 2008 after
Nikon
(, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
presented him with a
D3 camera. After using it at a
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
concert, he discovered it was well suited to live music, achieving dozens of good images, where film may have produced only a few.
Film
Mott's introduction to film came as a stills photographer with Paul Goldman's feature film ''
Suburban Mayhem'' (2007). A number of films have followed:
* ''
Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
'' (2008)
* ''
Animal Kingdom'' (2010)
* ''
Tomorrow When the War Began'' (2010)
* ''
A Few Best Men
''A Few Best Men'' is a 2011 comedy film written by Dean Craig and directed by Stephan Elliott. The film stars Xavier Samuel as a young groom heading to the Australian Blue Mountains with his three best men for his wedding. A sequel, ''A Few L ...
'' (2011)
* ''The Darkside'' (2013)
* ''
The Rover'' (2014)
As of 2015 a large percentage of Mott's income comes from stills on television and film productions.
This has coincided with the advent of digital photography and other changes in the music industry including a decline in live music and drop in music magazine production.
Exhibitions
* ''Rock Exposure'' (25 May – 24 June 1984), Music Gallery, Woolloomooloo. A collaboration with Rock photographers Bob King, Ian Greene and Tom Takacs. Mott's photographs featured a selection of women in rock including the Eurythmics, the Belle Stars, Kim Wilde, Joan Jett and the Divinyls.
* ''Still Noise: Australian Rock Photography'' (1991), National touring exhibition. Coinciding with the release of book by the same title.
* ''Rock & Roll is the new trainspotting'' (2010), Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane galleries. Mott's first solo exhibition. A 30 year retrospective coinciding with the release of his book: ''Rock & Roll is the new trainspotting''.''
''
* ''I Touch Myself'' (April – May 2014), Blender Gallery Paddington with NSW Cancer Council. Portraits honouring the life of Divinyls frontwoman, Chrissy Amphlett.
* ''What a Life! Rock Photography By Tony Mott'' (17 October 2015 – 7 February 2016)'','' State Library of New South Wales. A 30 year retrospective showcasing a lifetime of work, combined with related ephemera from the Library's collection.
Photographic output
Mott has published more than 30,000 photographs in 20 countries, including 900 magazine front covers.
His output is the result of 3,000 sessions and innumerable live shows that have translated into 400 posters, 500 CD or vinyl covers (singles, EPs and albums), featuring some of the world's greatest musicians.
In an interview with Guardian Australia in 2021, Mott described a large personal archive of unseen photographs that haven't been published. Spanning over 40 years, Mott has been able to assess and share photos that he would have "disregarded years ago" with the improvements in digital technology.
![Exhibition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Exhibition._What_a_Life_Rock_photography_by_Tony_Mott.jpg)
List of works
Published books
Mott's photographs have appeared in numerous published works. Mott has collaborated in and published a number of books featuring his photographs, often coinciding with exhibitions of work. These include:
* ''Still Noise: Australian Rock photography'' (1991). A collaboration with four other rock n roll photographers: Bob King, Chrystene Carroll, Wendy McDougall and Adrienne Overall. Released to coincide with a national touring exhibition''.''
* Every Picture Tells a Story (2003). A Large format compilation of Mott's favourite and best known shots, a retrospective from a 20 year career''.''
* ''Rock Chicks: The hottest female rockers from the 1960s to now'' (2010). Collaboration with author Alison Stieven-Taylor profiling rock 'n' roll women from the 1960s onwards, from Janis Joplin, Suzi Quattro and Chrissie Hynde to Courtney Love and Pink''.''
* ''Rock 'n Roll Photography is the New Trainspotting'' (2011). A retrospective of Tony Mott's work from the last 30 years''.''
* ''Alphabet A-Z Rock 'n' Roll Photography by Tony Mott: Some rock, some roll, some other things!'' (2015).
A retrospective of Tony Mott's work from the last 30 years coinciding with the State Library of NSW exhibition: ''What a Life! Rock Photography By Tony Mott"''(17 October 2015 – 7 February 2016)''.''
Films
Television and Mini Series
Mott's work on television and mini series' in Australia has largely been as a stills photographer. However, he did appear in the episode Snowy Pizza (Season 1, Episode 8) of the TV series
Pizza
Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...
in a cameo role.
As Still Photographer
Awards
* 1991 Australian Music Industry Awards: Best Rock Photographer
* 1992 Australian Music Industry Awards: Best Rock Photographer
* 2001 Australian Music Week: Best Live Concert Photography
* 2002 Australian Live Music Award: Best Live Concert Photography
* 2003 Australian Live Music Award: Best Live Concert Photography
* 2005 Jack Rock Photographer of the Year
* 2006 Jack Rock Photographer of the Year
Personal life
Mott changed his name from Anthony Moulds to Tony Mott after receiving his first photo credit. Mott is named after the most influential band in his life, "Mott The Hoople".
In 2006 whilst employed as stills photographer on the feature film ''Suburban Mayhem'', he met production manager Libby Sharpe, whom he married in 2008. They have two children, twins Harvey and Lucinda, born in 2011.
See also
*
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
*
Jack Awards
The Jack Awards were a set of popularly voted Australian music awards, sponsored by Tennessee whiskey company Jack Daniel's. The awards were conceived by Damien Wilson, former creative director of Peer Group Media to create a national platform t ...
*
Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fail ...
*
Pennie Smith
Pennie Smith (born in London) is an English photographer, known for her photography of the rock music industry. She specialises in black-and-white photography.
Early life
Smith attended art school in Twickenham in the late 1960s, studying gra ...
*
Who Shot Rock & Roll
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mott, Tony
Australian photographers
Photographers from Yorkshire
People from Sheffield
Rock music photographers
1956 births
Living people
British emigrants to Australia