Kevin Cummins (photographer)
British photographer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kevin Cummins (born 1953)[1] is a British photographer known for his work with rock bands and musicians.[2][3][4][5] His work is held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery[1] and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.[6]
Kevin Cummins | |
|---|---|
Cummins, Hatchards, London, 2023 | |
| Born | 1953 (age 72–73)[1] Manchester, England |
| Known for | Photography |
| Website | kevincummins |
Career
Cummins studied photography at Salford College.[7] He started photographing rock bands in the mid-1970s in Manchester.[8] Cummins had a 25-year association with the NME,[9] including 10 years as their chief photographer.[10] He has photographed numerous bands and musicians. His images have been seen as a contributing factor in the rise of the Madchester and Cool Britannia scenes.[11]
Cummins was instrumental in establishing City Life,[12] Manchester's what's on guide and was a founding contributor to The Face, the style magazine where he won an award for Magazine Cover of the Year.[13]
Cummins's photographs have been used extensively in cinema and TV documentaries, including Grant Gee's Joy Division and John Dower's Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop.[14]
He worked extensively for the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester when it opened in the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. He shoots regularly for the National Theatre in London, most recently for Harper Regan and Mrs. Affleck.[15]
A lifelong Manchester City F.C. supporter,[16] Cummins documented City's final season at Maine Road in the book We're Not Really Here.[17]
In 2005, British pop artist Peter Blake produced a screen print based on one of Cummins' Joy Division prints.[18]
Publications
- The Smiths and Beyond (2002)
- We're Not Really Here: Manchester City's Final Season at Maine Road[17]
- Juvenes (2007). Edition of 226 copies.[19]
- Joy Division: Juvenes. Cassell, 2021. ISBN 978-1788402712.[20]
- Manchester: Looking For the Light Through the Pouring Rain[21][22]
- Joy Division (Rizzoli, 2010)
- New Order (Rizzoli, 2015)
- Assassinated Beauty: Photographs of the Manic St Preachers. London: Faber & Faber, 2014. ISBN 978-0571312139.[23]
- Telling Stories: Photographs of The Fall. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2022. With a foreword by Simon Armitage. ISBN 978-1784728250.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
- 1981 Stage Struck, Royal Exchange, Manchester[citation needed]
- 1983 Access all Areas, Royal Exchange, Manchester[citation needed]
- 1985 Silent Faces, Oldham City Art Gallery[citation needed]
- 1986 Cummins 10, Cornerhouse, Manchester (part of the Festival of the Tenth Summer[24])
- 1986–96 The Way We Were, Wigan Heritage Centre[citation needed]
- 1994 Salfordians, Salford City Art Gallery[citation needed]
- 2002 The Smiths and Beyond, Proud Central, London[25]
- 2003 We're Not Really Here, Richard Goodall Gallery, Manchester[16]
- 2006 Arca: Joy Division, Paul Stolper Gallery, London[26]
- 2009 The Crucial 30: Post Punk Liverpool, The Hard Day's Night Hotel Gallery, Liverpool[27]
- 2012: Exemplar: Joy Division, Manchester Photographic Gallery, Manchester[28]
- 2014: New Order, Manchester Photographic Gallery, Manchester[29][30]
Group exhibitions
- 1999 Icons of Pop, National Portrait Gallery, London, included three of Cummins' photographs[1]
Awards and honours
In November 2009, Cummins was awarded an Outstanding Contribution to Music Photography award by the music industry website: Record of the Day.[31]
In 2015 Cummins was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Arts) by Manchester Metropolitan University.[32]
Collections
Cummins' work is held in the following permanent collections:
- National Portrait Gallery, London: 4 prints (as of 12 October 2022)[1]
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London: 7 prints (as of 12 October 2022)[6]