Bryan Adams the Photographer

Helena Bonham CarterBryan Adams may have been rocking the world with his music since the 'Summer of 69', but he's shown over the past decade that he's a very good photographer too.

 

Adams, born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 1959, was fortunate enough to have traveled parts of the world as a youngster as his father was a diplomat. He spent part of his younger years growing up in the Middle East and Europe, before settling in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Although primarily known for his music, Adams has gained a strong reputation for his photography, particularly for his work in the fashion world, and received a LeadAward for his photographs 2006. He has had photos published in numerous well-known publications such as L'uomo Vogue, British Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Interview magazine, and Esquire.  Adams work has also been published in Zoo Magazine , a high end fashion/art publication out of Berlin, Germany which is highly selective about which photographers they use.

 

He released a book of photographs called Made in Canada in 1999 and another in 2000 named Haven. In 2005, he published his first photography book in the US with Calvin Klein called American Women. Profits from the books are forwarded to breast cancer research in New York City.

 

While being a musician may have meant that Adams has been able to photograph many celebrities which other photographers wouldn't have been able to get a look in on, his work as a portrait photographer quickly earned him well deserved respect.  He has photographed stars such as Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, Mick Jagger,Placido Domingo, Billy Idol, Annie Lennox, Lenny Kravitz, Peter Gabriel, and Morrissey.  

Maggie GylenhallHe is adept at changing his style to suit his subject,  managing to somehow capture both the expected and hidden aspects of a person's character.  Images in a series often portray several sides of a subject, from wild and sexy to subdued and unsure.  Throughout his work,  there is a strong influence from the fashion photographers whose work he has always admired,  and he has a keen eye and understanding of how color, clothes and make up can change a woman's look.

 

Adams has also managed to mix his charity work with his passion for photography as he is the official photographer for the Hear the World organization and helps raise awareness for hearing loss.

 

Some of Bryan Adams photo exhibitions include:

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 1999
McCord Museum, Montreal 2000
Saatchi Gallery, London 2000
Photokina, Köln (Cologne), Germany 2001
ICA, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London 2004
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 2004
Calvin Klein, NYC, Dallas, Paris 2005
Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London 2005/2006
Il Tempio Di Adriano, Rome, Italy, July, 2006
Photokina, Köln (Cologne), Germany, September, 2006
Leica Gallery, Vienna, Austria, November, 2006
Galerija Fotografija, Ljubljana, Slovenia, November, 2006
H.Stern exhibition, São Paulo, Brazil, March, 2007
PhotoEspana, Madrid, Spain, Fotografos Insospechados (Unsuspected Photographers) Mickey Rourke photographs, May to July 2007
Nunnington Hall, North Yorkshire, England, May to June, 2007
401 Projects, NYC, NY September to November, 2007
The Hospital, Covent Garden, London, England. November 2007 (Modern Muses)
The National Portrait Gallery, London, England. Feb - May 2008 (Modern Muses)
Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany. May 2008 (Photos of the German National Football Team)
14th Street Gallery, NYC, NY. May 2008. (Hear The World) (plus other exhibitions in Berlin and Zurich with the same show)