FEATURE:
Kate Bush: The Tour of Life
Following John Carder Bush’s KATE: Inside the Rainbow
__________
I think the last time…
I properly explored the book was in 2021. It has been a while since I delved into KATE: Inside the Rainbow by John Carder Bush. Kate Bush’s brother has been taking photos of his sister since she was a child. You can order KATE: Inside the Rainbow. Published in October 2015, its tenth anniversary is coming up. I have been thinking about this quite a bit. I pitched a feature a while ago where I suggested three legendary photographers, John Carder Bush, Guido Harari and Gered Mankowitz should get together and discuss Kate Bush. Their experiences of shooting the artist. It would be great if there was this filmed conversation where they looked through their photos. Each checking out these great photos and pulling them apart. Guido Harari actually responded to my post on Instagram to say what a good idea that would be. I would like to think that one of these photographers has a follow-up in them. I am going to ask how do we follow a book like KATE: Inside the Rainbow. Before getting there, I am going to bring in some information that I have sourced before. Alongside some essential biographies of Kate Bush, KATE: Inside the Rainbow is something you need to own, as it gives this very personal and fascinating glimpse into her career. The photos and essays are really interesting:
“Stunning and unique images from throughout Kate Bush's career including:
Outtakes from classic album shoots and never-before-seen photographs from The Dreamingand Hounds of Love sessions
Rare candid studio shots and behind-the-scenes stills from video sets, including 'Army Dreamers' and 'Running Up that Hill'
Includes original essays from Kate's brother:
From Cathy to Kate: Describes in vibrant detail their shared childhood and the whirlwind days of Kate's career
Chasing the Shot: A vivid evocation of John's experience of photographing his sister
'For me, each of these images forms part of a golden thread that shoots through the visual tapestry of Kate's remarkable career. Storytelling has always been the heartbeat of Kate's body of work, and it has been a privilege to capture these photographic illustrations that accompany those magical tales' John Carder Bush”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush photographed behind the scenes for her 1979 Christmas special
KATE: Inside the Rainbow is sort of an expansion of Cathy. That book features black-and-white photos of Kate Bush as a child. I guess KATE: Inside the Rainbow is a companion to that book. You can order Cathy here. It is an expensive book. However, it is worth investing in. The sort of access and insights we get with John Carder Bush’s photography is extraordinary. There are a couple of reviews from 2015 that I want to source. The first is quite brief but makes some good points regarding how powerful the photos inside KATE: Inside the Rainbow are:
“Following in the very intimate steps of his last book, Cathy, Kate’s big brother John Carder Bush charts the indomitable rise of his younger sibling from ingénue to full-blown star.
As part of her management and creative team too, he’s been afforded the kind of access most photographers could only ever dream of. This collection – at its strongest with candid shots of video shoots, dance rehearsals and album artwork – reveals as much of the artist at work (and occasionally play) as most of us will ever experience.
Carder Bush also offers some insight into his sister’s ascension towards the stars in his essay Inside The Rainbow, but it’s the photographs that do most of the talking, startling snapshots all of a life much less ordinary”.
The second review is a bit more in-depth. There are not a lot of reviews out there concerning KATE: Inside the Rainbow. With this book readily available (it was reprinted recently as it was out of stock for a long time), I do think that every Kate Bush fan should own there. Nearly ten years after its release, it remains the most intimate and extraordinary collection of Kate Bush photos post-The Kick Inside:
“For me, each of these images forms part of a golden thread that shoots through the visual tapestry of Kate’s remarkable career.”
So says Kate’s oldest brother John Carder Bush of this robust and elegant tome, teeming with lavish colour pictures of his sister. And if anyone should know how to get a good shot of Kate Bush, it’s got to be the man who has, after all, been photographing her for almost all her life.
For the last 20 years Carder Bush has been actively involved with the creative side of Kate’s career, but most fans will also be aware of his 2014 book Cathy, a fascinating glimpse of an artist in development (in all senses of the word) and originally published privately back in 1986. And if there’s a handful of these shots to be seen here, for the most part Kate: Inside The Rainbow deals with more recognisable photos used to promote and illustrate Bush’s career as it sensationally unfolded after she burst onto the airwaves as that wide-eyed 19 year-old singing Wuthering Heights.
Although there are pictures that cover the pre-The Kick Inside years, Carder Bush’s first seemingly “official” engagement was for 1980’s Never For Ever album, and he’s worked with his sister on every consecutive album bar 2005’s Aerial (although thinking back I’m not certain I can recall much in the way of promotional shots when that album came out). So while this is by no means as up close and personal as Cathy was, it’s certainly the best collection of pictures covering Bush’s progression, from album shots to work on singles and promotional videos. Some of these you’ll recognise immediately; others take on a more candid and personal feel.
Although Carder Bush was also responsible for the promotional shots that also accompanied 2011’s Director’s Cut and 50 Words For Snow, there’s nothing extra you won’t have seen before, merely the handful of promo pics that appeared at the time. And equally, some may be disappointed that there’s nothing at all from the record-breaking run of the Before The Dawn live shows (Carder Bush was teaching martial arts abroad at the time). These minor quibbles aside, there’s more than enough here to sate the appetite of even Kate’s most ardent fans”.
I do know that there are photo collections from Gered Mankowitz and Guido Harari. They have coffee table books that you can look for. However, there has not been a lot in terms of new photographic representations. I do think that there are other photos from John Carder Bush that would make for another excellent book. I asked before whether there are shots from Kate Bush’s 2014 residency, Before the Dawn, that could go into a book. Whether there are other shots from people like Guido Harari that we can have in a book. There are a lot of press photographs and shots from various sessions that would be fascinating to see. It depends whether Kate Bush would authorise their release. I do think there is potential for at least one more book of photography. There have been Kate Bush books in the past five years or so. A biography by Tom Doyle. A Hounds of Love book from Leah Kardos. Not a whole lot aside from that. I am surprised that there has not been more. I would love to see John Carder Bush release more photos of his sister. I believe there was plans for a second volume of Cathy photos. It was scrapped. There are undoubtedly outtakes and some more photos from album cover shoots and from video shoots. Rather than it being a case of scraping the bottom of the barrel or releasing something to cash in, there are new fans that would love to see new or unreleased photos of Kate Bush. I think there is a real need. As we await a new Kate Bush album and there are some important anniversaries this year, many are looking around to see what comes next. I might revisit KATE: Inside the Rainbow and do a new review of it. It is a wonderful and revealing look inside Kate Bush’s career from her brother. The sort of shots and access to this amazing artist that…
WE would only dream of.