England – London
The Atlas Gallery joins forces with the Leica Gallery to honour the Canadian singer-songwriter in two London exhibitions featuring his photographic work.
A big name from the 80s and 90s pop-rock scene is back in the spotlight. Bryan Adams, singer-songwriter-producer, also happens to be a photographer – for those who don’t know (yet). This passion quickly turned into a real profession as the 2000s approached. The Everything I do singer gained valuable experience after playing with The Who at the Royal Albert Hall, taking shots of the band and himself for a DVD booklet.
Since then, he has captured a myriad of celebrities and friends from the music, film, sports, politics and fashion industries. But also, the British royal family: his portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip is kept at London’s National Portrait Gallery
A rich portfolio that also includes record sleeves (for Annie Lennox, Amy Winehouse, Status Quo, Diana Krall, Anastacia), a first monograph (Exposed), a photobook (Homeless) on the homeless and street vendors of Big Issue, and another series (Canadians) exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum for Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Between Unpublished and Well-Known Images
Today, the man who was inducted into the Royal Photographic Society eight years ago is in the spotlight at the Atlas Gallery, his London representative. The cultural space is showing the world premiere of his latest works, which draw on the expression “Seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses”.
Here, Bryan Adams experiments with multicoloured Plexiglas to give a different dimension to his fresco of well-known celebrities. Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Robbie Williams, Amy Winehouse, Mick Jagger, the Queen and Prince Philip take on dreamlike appearances behind coloured lenses. To complete Bryan Adams’ photographic journey, the Atlas Gallery invites us to discover a second exhibition at the Leica Gallery, with which it has partnered.
Classics revisit his earlier works in black and white. Portraits of Sean Penn, Ben Kingsley and Victoria Bekham adorn the gallery walls, as do those of Mickey Rourke and Daphne Guinness, for whom he won two Lead Awards in Germany. Although some of the photographs have remained unpublished until now, all are available for sale.
Nathalie Dassa
Bryan Adams in Colour
Until August 12, 2023
Atlas Gallery
49 Dorset St, London
atlasgallery.com/exhibition/bryan-adams-in-colour
Bryan Adams: Classics
Until August 31, 2023
Leica Gallery
64-66 Duke St, London