The music photographer Mick Rock – official photographer to David Bowie and “the man who shot the 70s” – has died aged 72, reports The Guardian.
The paper said the news was confirmed by his representative in a statement that described Rock as a “photographic poet” and “a true force of nature who spent his days doing exactly what he loved, always in his own delightfully outrageous way”.
Rock created the abiding images of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era, shot the cover for his 1973 album Pinups and directed videos for Space Odyssey, Life on Mars, Jean Genie and John, I’m Only Dancing.
Born Michael David Rock in 1948 in Hammersmith, he studied medieval and modern languages at Cambridge and made headlines when he was arrested for marijuana possession at university. He first picked up a camera during an acid trip, although later discovered there was no film in it.
