What Presence!: The Rock Photography of Harry Papadopoulos - Softcover

Papadopoulos, Harry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846972566 ISBN 13: 9781846972560

Publisher: Polygon, 2013

Synopsis

Harry Papadopoulos began his photographic career outside the Apollo in Glasgow, flogging photographs to gig-goers. He soon moved to London, and from 1979 to 1984 worked as a staff photographer for Sounds, for which he provided countless front covers. During those five years he covered Blondie, David Bowie, Devo, Joy Division, Bryan Ferry, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, The Specials, Wham!, ABC, Edwyn Collins, The Associates and many, many more. Harry's London flat also became home to fellow Scots such as Aztec Camera, Orange Juice and the Bluebells. Savour Peter Capaldi, years before he mutated into Malcolm Tucker, looking cute and wholesome as frontman of Glasgow band The Dreamboys(with US chat show host Craig Ferguson on drums) and relive the inky-fingered days of the 1980s music press with this fascinating look at the work of guerrilla lensman Harry Papadopoulos.

About this title

About the Author

Harry Papadopoulos was born in Helensburgh in 1954. He studied electrical engineering at Paisley College of Technology and later became a teacher of Maths and Physics. A self-taught photographer who began his career taking photographs at gigs in the late 1970s and 1980s, following a long stint at music weekly Sounds he became editor of Marvel Comics publications such as Star Trek and The Flintstones. In August 2002 Harry suffered a brain aneurysm and returned home to Glasgow in 2006. Ken McCluskey was the vocalist and harmonica player of Scottish band The Bluebells who enjoyed number one success with 'Young At Heart' when it was used in a Volkswagen television advertisement. He lectures at Stow College and co-curated the original What Presence! exhibition.

Reviews

In the late 1970s and early 80s, Glasgow and Edinburgh were hotbeds for punk and indie rock, and it was former math teacher turned photographer Papadopoulos who documented the scene's energy, fashions, and bands, from Orange Juice and Josef K, to Aztec Camera and The Fire Engines. An unpretentious body of black and white photography—with an excellent introduction by McCluskey, formerly of the band The Bluebells—the book is an overdue tribute to a lesser-known rock photographer, Scottish youth culture, the defunct music weekly Sounds (where Papadopoulos worked), as well as the influential independent label, Postcard Records. What defines Papadopoulos's work is its informal, DIY quality, which suited the period. The book's highlights include a close-up live portrait of a dour Peter Murphy of the English goth band, Bauhaus, along with run-of-the-mill, though rarely seen, live shots of The Clash, David Bowie, The Ramones, and a dazzling image of Gil Scott-Heron, his face lit with infectious laughter. With brief reminiscences from musicians such as Edwyn Collins, and a foreword by Peter Capaldi, the collection will be prized by music buffs. Photos. (May)

Edition details

• Publisher: Polygon
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1846972566
• ISBN 13: 9781846972560
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120
• Editor: McCluskey Ken