Mick Rock is a Cambridge-educated photographer who had the good luck of mixing with the thriving British rock scene of the early 70s.
His big break was knowing Cambridge-born Syd Barret, the almost mythical "crazy diamond", founding member of Pink Floyd. Rock is the author of the cover of Barret's one and only solo LP, The Madcap Laughs. That was also Rock's first cover in an era when LPs covers where an art in itself.
The descent of Barret into madness and reclusion might have caused Rock's career to take a downward turn, but luckily for him, he became Bowie's official photographer. At the top of the glam rock scene there was only one way for Mick Rock to go and that was up.
Bowie introduced him to Lou Reed and Iggy Pop and some of the most iconic LPs covers - such as Raw Power and Transformer - where thus born. On top of that, Rock shot thousands of concert photos, not only of the holy triad, but of the most famous musicians of the era, such as Marc Bolan, Roxy Music, New York Dolls, etc..
Rock transitioned smoothly to punk music with Blondie, Joan Jett and Talking Heads. During the documentary, Rock professes his admiration for the musicians, especially Bowie and Harris and admits that it was impossible to take a bad photo of Bowie or Debbie Harris, who were both amazingly photogenic.
However, living with the wild bunch meant that Rock picked up some bad habits. With his career in a limbo and half a lifetime of substance abuse, at the beginning of the 90s Rock suffered a nearly fatal heart attack.
The documentary is framed from the point of view of his comatose self, looking backward, which I did not particularly like and that's why I am giving it a 7, while the content is very interesting and would have deserved a better treatment.
PS and yes, Mick Rock IS is REAL name. Talk about a name, a destiny...
