The New Cue #19: Lost In Music: Kevin Cummins (May 17, 2021)

Morrissey, Dublin, 27th April 1991 ~ Kevin Cummins.jpeg


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."



More Cummins gubbins; nice tales of Japan & Dublin, plus pic ~
 
His photos of Joy Division and Ian Curtis are iconic and are more important to me than any Smiths photos.

KevinC05Exh121110.jpg


"My Joy Division photos are important. To shoot photos that later help to define the band is something I’m proud of, obviously. But my intention was to locate them in time and place. I felt we (at the NME) had a duty (with photography) to show people what a band would sound like. And those photos do that".
 
His photos of Joy Division and Ian Curtis are iconic and are more important to me than any Smiths photos.

KevinC05Exh121110.jpg


"My Joy Division photos are important. To shoot photos that later help to define the band is something I’m proud of, obviously. But my intention was to locate them in time and place. I felt we (at the NME) had a duty (with photography) to show people what a band would sound like. And those photos do that".

41 years since he passed away, I can still remember watching Buzzcocks at Manchester Poly on the 22nd May and Pete Shelley saying this ones called Strange Thing and it's dedicated to Ian Curtis who died at the weekend, the whole crowd was stunned.

5E8609C7-78DD-4D16-8DE8-7445582292C1.jpeg
 
41 years since he passed away, I can still remember watching Buzzcocks at Manchester Poly on the 22nd May and Pete Shelley saying this ones called Strange Thing and it's dedicated to Ian Curtis who died at the weekend, the whole crowd was stunned.

View attachment 72263
You were part of a history that you didn't want to be part of. His premature death was a massive loss to the world, not to mention his little daughter who had to grow up without him. Sadness itself.
 
You were part of a history that you didn't want to be part of. His premature death was a massive loss to the world, not to mention his little daughter who had to grow up without him. Sadness itself.

I was really shocked. I had seen them twice, supporting Buzzcocks at Blackburn and Manchester Apollo, didn’t see much of them in Blackburn but watched their whole set in Manchester. I also never expected to be living down the road from the bass player 40 years on!
 
I was really shocked. I had seen them twice, supporting Buzzcocks at Blackburn and Manchester Apollo, didn’t see much of them in Blackburn but watched their whole set in Manchester. I also never expected to be living down the road from the bass player 40 years on!
Thanks for the post.
Look after his bass guitar(s) !
 

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