With his gravity-defying quiff, outstretched arms, shredded shirt, Dr Marten boots, jeans and bare torso, striding across the stage, the good looking young Morrissey certainly made an entrance onto the music scene. Unapologetically a photography book, Cummins' first photographed Morrissey in 1983 and the book covers the timespan from that year through to 1994, a time during which Morrissey became a prominent cultural figure and The Smiths his band had something different to say and special to offer. Morrissey always collaborated with his photographer fully and would come to the shoots full of ideas and they certainly show the excitement and chaos. There is a text about the portraiture alongside the studio shots of Morrissey, explaining what makes an articulate portrait and sharing some stories of working directly with the musician. The book includes photographs from tours at venues in Dublin and Cologne, Japan and the United States as well as the UK. In a final essay by Gail Crowther the significance of fans using their bodies as sites of devotion accompanies photos of Morrisey-inspired tattoos. Crouching arms outstretched with his reflection in a pond, with his bandmates, lounging artistically beside the same pond, posing under the sign THE QUEEN IS DEAD, at The Smiths Convention September 1988 next to the tour bus, and musing 'The only way to kill death is through photography' as Jean Cocteau said. Fans including grey haired grannies, young teenagers rushing up to hug their idol, roughly half of the images are colour and half artistic black and white. 256pp, 20.3 x 27.3cm.
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