IN 1972, the Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita travelled to London and blagged a photoshoot with Marc Bolan. It was the start of his association with the cream of pop talent of that decade and beyond.
In July that same year he did his first photoshoot with David Bowie, beginning a working relationship that would continue over the years and decades that followed. A few years later he created the image that Bowie used on the cover of his album Heroes.
In Eternity, a new book of his photographs, Sukita’s storied career in both Asia and the west is recorded in his images. Everyone from Iggy Pop to Madness, George Lucas to the B-52s can be found in its pages. This photograph of Bolan captures him at his “Bolan Mania” peak when he was, quite simply, the greatest pop star in the world.
“For a photographer,” Sukita notes, “the first connection makes or breaks a photo session. It’s not just about taking the photos. It’s about creating an atmosphere. You need to win the trust of your subject, even if you’ve never met before, whether you’re shooting Bowie or Ray Charles.”
Get It On (Melody Maker cover), Pelling + Cross Studio, London, 1972 – Courtesy of ACC Art Books. Taken from Eternity by Sukita, published by ACC Art Books, £50. A deluxe version is also available at £350
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here