FOCAL shortlisted footage agency Reelin’ In The Years have secured a massive photo talent to their newly launched stills agency Reelin’ In The Years Photo Archive – they have signed a deal to represent the music photography of Gered Mankowitz who since 1963 has taken some of rock music’s most iconic images. Gered’s work has appeared in documentaries, museums, art galleries, books, magazines and on nearly 500 album covers from the 1960s through the 1980s.
They say: “We have admired Gered’s images for many years and it’s truly an honor to rep his music stills which have been viewed and loved by millions across the globe. When asked why he chose Reelin’ In The Years Photo Archive to handle his incredible body of work he replied, “In these days of monolithic corporations it is a joy to be working with such a passionate and knowledgeable person as David Peck and his team at Reelin’ In The Years Photo Archive.”
Gered established his first studio in Mason’s Yard in 1963, in what was to become the very heart of 60s swinging London. In 1963, Gered met and photographed the singing duo Chad and Jeremy and one of these photos was used as the cover of the duo’s first album, Yesterday’s Gone. He began to work with a new generation of producers like John Barry, Shel Talmy and Chris Blackwell photographing artists who were of his own age group and who felt at ease with him in a way that had not been possible with other photographers.
Within a few months Gered had already begun to make a name for himself, and he was approached to photograph Marianne Faithfull, who had just had a big hit with “As Tears Go By”. Working closely with Marianne he got to know her manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham. In early 1965, Oldham asked him to photograph the Rolling Stones, who he also managed and produced. This was a major turning point in Gered’s career, because from this first session came the cover for Out of Our Heads (U.S. title December’s Children), and as a result he was asked by the Stones to go to America with them on their record breaking 1965 autumn tour. During this 9 week (36 city) tour of the U.S. Gered photographed the Rolling Stones on stage and off. He continued working with the Stones as their ‘official’ photographer, producing photos for albums (Between the Buttons; Got Live If You Want It; Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass); and several others), press and publicity, taken at home, in the recording studio, on stage and behind the scenes until 1967, when the band broke off with their manager, Oldham, by which time Gered was established as one of London’s leading music photographers.
Early in 1967 (a few months before Jimi Hendrix took the world by storm at The Monterey Pop Festival), Gered worked with The Jimi Hendrix Experience producing, during two sessions at his Mason’s Yard studio, images of Jimi that would go on to become some of the most iconic and widely known portraits of the great musician.
Through the 60’s, Gered photographed many other major music artists including Free, Traffic, The Yardbirds, The Small Faces and Soft Machine. Because of the quality of his work, Gered’s skills were in such demand that during the 1970s thru 1980s he took portrait shots and album covers of artists such as George Harrison, Elton John, The Jam, Slade, Suzi Quatro, Sweet, Kate Bush, Generation X, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Genesis and many others. In 1982 Gered had a major exhibition of his work at London’s famous Photographers’ Gallery. This was seen by over 16,000 people, a record for the gallery at the time, and it then toured the U.K. for over 2 years. This exhibition was the first in the U.K. to focus on the world of music and was a pathfinder in this genre. In 1984 a book based on this exhibition, called “Hit Parade”, was published in the U.K. and U.S.A. Also in 1984 a book of Gered’s Rolling Stones photographs, called Satisfaction, was published. Both books were very well received, and as a result there began the growing interest in the Gered Mankowitz archive.
Over the past 50 plus years Gered has continued to work in the music business as well as contributing to many leading magazines and also taking prize winning images for the advertising industry.
More on Gered and to licence images HERE