Gered Mankowitz established himself professionally throughout the 1960s, shooting some of the great music photography of legendary artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, Marianne Faithfull and The Rolling Stones, and capturing many of the iconic images of the time.
Like all music photographers Gered has photographed live performances, tour documentary, and album covers, but he is probably best known for his portrait working capturing classically simple and intimate images of a long list of music stars and legends.
Always ready to embrace progressions in technology, print and new ways of presenting photography, Gered has worked with lenticular art prints through partnerships and collaborations with other artists, as well as re-imagining much of his older work into new forms.
From turning Jimi Hendrix three dimensional to pop art flavoured experiments with shifting colour palettes and graphical highlights, lenticular prints have very literally added a new dimension to these classic photographic portraits.
Always busy on new projects, Gered found a little time spare to speak to us recently about his work new and old…
What do you hope viewers draw from your work?
I just want them to like it!
Were you influenced by other photographers as you developed your own style?
Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, amongst many, many others!
When did you first come across lenticular art prints?
I first saw a lenticular post-card in Times Square in 1965, and thought it was fun and exciting. I did not start working with the medium until very large sizes were viable and were brought to my attention around 2000.
Working with my portrait photography that I had originally taken in the 1960s I thought that large scale lenticular printing would bring my images to a different market.
It is a process that I have enjoyed enormously since the outset, I am always thinking about new ways I can use the medium.
It seems to be a time where digital technologies are bringing some huge changes to the creative and art worlds, do you think we may be losing something of the beauty of analogue in the process?
It is an exciting and strange time, but I have always tried to explore new ways of presenting my work while continuing to work with analogue processes as well. Currently I am working on NFT projects as well as a new collaboration to produce traditional silkscreen prints based on my photographs; as a photographer traditional printing methods still have a special place for me!
We’re very proud to be able to offer our own Gered Mankowitz special edition art prints; several lenticular portraits of Jimi Hendrix, captured at a pivotal session at Gered’s London photography studio in 1967, can be found in our online art print gallery. They include new versions of the iconic cover image for The Ultimate Experience album which is now part of the National Gallery Photographic Collection, these editions were produced at our own Kent print workshop with the full oversight of Gered to ensure an exceptional, art gallery standard lenticular print; click here for more details.
