FEATURE:
Be That Movie Queen
ALL PHOTOS: Gered Mankowitz
Kate Bush and Gered Mankowitz: A Magical and Hugely Fascinating Creative Collaboration
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RESPONSIBLE for some of the…
very best and most memorable photos of Kate Bush, I have been thinking about Gered Mankowitz. Even though other photographers had a longer collaboration and working relationship with Bush – including Guido Harari and her brother, John Carder Bush -, there is something very special about Gered Mankowitz. I have included him before and written about his importance. I wanted to revisit this amazing photographer, as I am thinking back to Kate Bush’s first couple of albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart (1978), and the sort of whirlwind around her then. I am going to be returning to photographers who have made such an impact and been responsible for some of the very best shots of Kate Bush. I want to start by highlighting a book that is among the ones I really want to own. In addition to John Carder Bush’s Cathy – which is the Kate Bush purchase that is top of my list -, the amazing WOW! from Gered Mankowitz is fascinating. We get this close look at his iconic shots of Kate Bush when she was in her late-teens/early-twenties. He was shooting her when she was coming through and establishing herself as an artist. Someone who I would love to speak to one day. I don’t know if there are more shots of Kate Bush that has yet to be released that he took. It is clear that WOW! is a real treasure trove. Here is why people should get it:
“WOW! Kate Bush by Gered Mankowitz features the very best work from Gered Mankowitz’s incredible 1978 / 1979 archive of Kate Bush photographs, with the majority of photographs previously unpublished. Each copy is personally signed by Gered Mankowitz.
As with all previous Ormond Yard Press volumes, it is a book on a spectacular scale: a hardcover volume housed in its own printed slipcase and measuring 24 inches high x 18 inches wide (60x45cm) when closed, 24 x 36 inches (60 x 90cm) when open, with 96 pages of photographs. The physical scale may be large, but the edition size for WOW! is reassuringly small – just 750 individually signed and numbered copies are available to collectors worldwide.
Kate was a wonderful subject and I worked with her over several sessions throughout 1978 and into 79. She was always a delight and an inspiration to work with. I am immensely proud of the work I have done with her and will always be grateful to have been associated with such a gifted artist from the very beginning of her long and important career. I am tremendously excited to be launching WOW! and hope that it excites you too” Gered Mankowitz
WOW! is a book on a spectacular scale: an ultra-large-format 96 page limited edition hardcover which measures 24 inches high x 18 inches wide (60x45cm) when closed. When the book is open, a double page spread measures 24 inches high by 36 inches wide (60cm x 90cm). The physical size of WOW! may be large, but the edition size is reassuringly low. Just 750 are being offered for sale worldwide.
WOW! includes approximately 250 images, and contains the very best material from Gered Mankowitz’s archive of Kate Bush photographs. The vast majority of photographs are previously unpublished. The book is housed in a handsome printed slipcase, and each copy is personally signed by Gered.
WOW! defies the normal ‘coffee table’ convention. Much larger than a traditional coffee table volume, it is slim and elegant at the same time. WOW! is housed in a beautiful custom slipcase which reproduces the front and back book cover art. All our publications seek to redefine the book as more than just a book – and as a piece of art in its own right. With this in mind, the cover of the book and slipcase have been deliberately left free of text so that nothing detracts from the power of the images”.
I think that Gered Mankowitz is one of the most important figures in Kate Bush’s career. At that pivotal time when she was emerging and her face was being seen everywhere, we had this experienced photographer charged with taking images that were distinct and different. There is a shot of Kate Bush, intended to be the cover of the Wuthering Heights single, that was scrapped because it showed her nipples. Instead of the image being cropped, it got out into the world and Bush’s family felt that it was inappropriate and maybe sexualised. Kate Bush was cool with it, though it remains one of those missed opportunities. The actual shot is amazing. The expression Kate Bush gives shows how Mankowitz was able to get the best from his subjects. In 1978 and 1979, there needed to be this steady and experienced photographer who could easily work with Kate Bush. Someone she trusted. If people like Guido Harari had a longer time working with Kate Bush, I think that Gered Mankowitz’s shots of Kate Bush are among the very best. In 2014, when Kate Bush took Before the Dawn to the Hammersmith stage, the Big Issue spoke with Gered Mankowitz about his time working with the legend. Like I have done in the past, I am sourcing the entirety of the interview, as it is too good and important to be edited down:
“Gered Mankowitz, the photographer with Kate Bush in his eyes, who shot the iconic the Wuthering Heights image and captured Kate in several photo shoots between 1978-79, discusses ‘that’ famous leotard shot, and why Kate was always in control of her sexy image…
I was brought in to create the launch image for Wuthering Heights and I think what makes Kate brilliant is her unique talent, her extraordinary energy, her vision – everything she does has a tremendous vision.
I remember her to be somebody who worked very hard. She was very young, 19, when it came out and she was wonderful to work with. Very energetic, very frenetic, quite difficult to tie down sometimes, to get her to focus on making an idea work, she wasn’t very experienced in having her photograph taken at that time, which was part of the challenge. But her individuality shone through.
I don’t think I had to draw it out of her, it was there, it was bubbling out of her. When I first went to the record company to discuss the session she wasn’t there but they played the video of Wuthering Heights that they’d made. It was quite obvious that she was a unique and special talent, not just because the music was so extraordinary but because of her individual look, her beauty and movement and style.
She had a really special quality, which stood out instantly on record and visually. I knew that I had to be at the top of my game to produce an image that was going to complement and support this extraordinary talent, and that’s what I tried to do. I always try to break these things down so that they are as simple as possible.
I had to be at the top of my game to produce an image that was going to complement and support this extraordinary talent
I only had a very loose connection with the record company. They already had a cover for the album The Kick Inside, but they didn’t have an image of Kate, it was quite obscure and it wasn’t as up-front of Kate as they wanted it to be. But I sense that they weren’t quite sure where they were going with her.
What they seemed very certain of was here was a unique and special talent and that they had somebody who was pure gold, but they were being led by her and I think that they weren’t sure who they were getting.
I wouldn’t want to suggest that she was in control of our session, but she was very much in control of the way she looked when she stepped out of the dressing room and I saw her for the first time ready for the camera I was blown away and knew it was going to be something special.
We did the very famous leotard pictures. I chose the leotards to make visual link with dance, that was the point of choosing and selecting them, I wanted to keep it extremely simple, I hope that in the portrait there would be a visual connection with dance which was clearly very important to her.
During the same session we reproduced the image of Wuthering Heights that she’d recorded for the video because everybody wanted stills of that but in those days they just couldn’t take them from the film. She did the whole dance for me. [Big Issue: “Wow!” Gered: “Wow indeed!”]. The only thing I didn’t have was the dry ice she had in the video, but it was spectacular.
We did four big photo sessions together between January 1978 and March or April 1979 and dance was always very high up on the list and a lot of the pictures we did are her moving, her different leotards, leaping, spinning, dancing and expressing herself like that and that was so important and trying to capture that in a very graphic way.
She could just look at the camera you would melt. You sense that she was really special and felt Wuthering Heights was going to be a big hit and I know that EMI was going to really get behind it. What nobody knew was how huge she would be and how important.
I had worked with a lot of people who had become incredibly successful for one reason or another – The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, who had that same charisma and presence as Kate, as did Annie Lennox and Suzi Quattro. What you recognise is talent and charisma but that doesn’t necessarily turn into longevity.
We know you’re going to move from one single, one album to the next and hope that the artist and everything in their support structure around them is going to remain intact and supportive, and that the artist will build a fan base that is solid enough to support them.
The one thing that was very clear was here was a very individual and unique special artist. There’s always terrible pressure on people especially if your first record is a huge hit. I don’t think that any of her records have been as big as Wuthering Heights but she’s big enough, talented enough and clever enough not to be overwhelmed by the success.
She would appear to be completely in control of her career, and she’s managed to maintain her privacy. When she makes an appearance [in public] she’s thought about it, and considered it, and the response to it is always huge.
The one picture that in a way is inescapable is the pink leotard Wuthering Heights picture. It’s one of those pictures that become iconic and represents so much, and that doesn’t happen very often. It has a life of its own and it has energy. I think it’s a beautiful portrait of a very beautiful young woman.
The Big Issue: There has been discussion over the years whether her sexuality was being exploited – depending how it’s cropped, it’s quite graphic…
Gered: It didn’t occur to me at that time that [the nipples visible in the full-length shot] would be a problem. I know that it was pretty edgy for the late ’70s but it wasn’t sort of discussed or thought about a great deal. That was how she looked and I wasn’t going to say to her “I think you should cover up”.
She looked absolutely gorgeous. I’m looking at a cropped version of it now and it still has all the power that it did then. Her breasts might have been titillating to a few young boys but her beauty and her serenity, her stillness are what really make this a special photograph.
She used her sexuality throughout her performance
She certainly knew what she was doing, that’s how she came out of the dressing room, looking like that, and there was no attempt by anybody to make her look like that. That’s what she looked like and I don’t think it’s exploitative at all. I think it’s very, very beautiful.
I’m the photographer and I took that picture, and I don’t see how I could have exploited Kate Bush. She was in control of it.
But she used her sexuality throughout her performance – look at the Babooshka video or any of the records and promotional videos and stills, certainly in those first three or four years of her career she was a very sexual person and I think that came across in the way she moved, looked and the way she sang.
For me that makes any discussion or debate about whether the picture was ‘exploitative’ redundant. She wasn’t like Miley Cyrus trying to draw attention to herself through her sexuality. She’s a very strong woman and as a strong woman you know that she’s aware of everything that’s around her and I completely reject any possibility that the pictures were exploitative, it reflects her beauty and her power and serenity, and her comfortableness with it.
The Big Issue: It’s such a direct portrait, you feel like you know her, her face looks so open but she’s not giving anything away, it gives you chills still to look at it now.
Gered: It often is the case that in the beginning when an artist makes a really profound impact it’s often their first moments that are sort of welded into the public consciousness and that’s one of the most gratifying things. Going back to my favourite image, I’m incredibly proud and thrilled to have been associated with Kate Bush at this early stage. It’s fantastic to hear you say that [above] about it”.
There are a couple of reasons to me returning to the incredible Kate Bush photos Gered Mankowitz took. I have been wondering what is left and whether there are other shots as yet unseen. I am still keen to own the fabulous coffee table book, WOW! Over forty-five years ago, Gered Mankowitz had privileged access to this amazing young artist few knew would become a huge name. These were the early days. It was a remarkable time! The range of shots that he took are so full of nuance and layers. The way Bush bonds with the camera. It is hard to select a favourite of his, though I do think that it is either the fantastic Wuthering Heights cover where she is in the pink leotard. I also love the ‘Hollywood’ photo, as it is worlds away. The pink leotard shot is Bush as a teen still. She does look very young and shy, yet there is this great look in her face. So many different possibilities. What was she thinking?! Compare that to the black-and-white shot where she looks like a Hollywood star, and it could have come years later. So mature and different! It shows how adaptable Kate Bush was and how skilled Gered Mankowitz was. Such a close and great working relationship, it is one that she would then take to other photographers. Kate Bush always invested and committed to ensuring that she was a perfect subject. With many people pigeon-holing and defining Kate Bush in 1978 and 1979, I do think that Mankowitz’s went a long way to showing how complex, stunning and awesome Kate Bush was. Many assuming she was some odd English artist that was maybe a novelty. With some amazingly eye-catching and physical shots, it did help to bring about a reassessment in some. These photos will endure for decades. I have included some here, though I would compel people to seek out as many as possible. Gered Mankowitz’s 1978 and 1979 photos are some of the very best…
EVER taken of Kate Bush.