The Rise of David Bowie. 1972-1973: Mick Rock

The eye of the Bowie storm
In 1972, David Bowie released his groundbreaking album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. With it landed Bowie’s Stardust alter-ego: A glitter-clad, mascara-eyed, sexually-ambiguous persona who kicked down the boundaries between male and female, straight and gay, fact and fiction into one shifting and sparkling phenomenon of ’70s self-expression.

Together, Ziggy the album and Ziggy the stage spectacular propelled the softly spoken Londoner into one of the world’s biggest stars. A key passenger on this glam trip into the stratosphere was fellow Londoner and photographer Mick Rock. Rock bonded with Bowie artistically and personally, immersed himself in the singer’s inner circle, and, between 1972–1973, worked as Bowie’s official photographer.

This limited and numbered edition brings together the best of Rock’s Bowie portfolio with spectacular stage shots as well as intimate backstage portraits. Pictures for press, album jackets, and stills from promo movies sit alongside around 50 percent previously unseen images, offering unprecedented access to the many facets of Bowie’s personality and his fame. The book’s hologram cover, composed of different head-shots, rejoices in Bowie’s fearless experimentation and unpredictability.

Through the aloof and approachable, the playful and serious, the candid and the contrived, this is a tribute bursting with the daring and energy of a unique star and his eternal inspiration.