If a picture tells a thousand words, Tony Mott ‘s photos tell millions of stories. His photos of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards mid performance, Peter Garrett kneeling on stage eye to eye with the front row, Tex Perkins holding court in front of an army of fans at Sydney’ s Big Day Out in 1994, tell the story not just of the musician, or the photographer, but of the thousands and thousands of fans who loved that song in that moment. Rock N Rock Gallery - A Journey From Sheffield to Sydney 1983 -2023 is Tony Mott’s story in his words, with his photos. It is a unique opportunity for all music lovers to gain an insider’s view into 40 years of rock and roll, from the magic created on stage to the highs and the lows of the backstage bonds.
For 40 years, Tony Mott has been the musician’s photographer, having been asked to photograph some of the biggest performances of our times. Tony was born in England in 1956. After training as a chef, he traveled the world, working as a c hef in Sydney and then on international cruise ships, sailing to over 60 countries. It was on those cruise ships that his desire to capture amazing places and people was borne. Back in Sydney’s thriving live music scene in the early 1980s he honed his craft, taking photos of the Divinyls. This launched a career spanning decades taking photos of some of the biggest names in music, both on and off the stage. Tony’s photographs have been published in magazines, newspapers and used as album covers. He has published more than 30,000 photos in 20 countries, including 900 magazine front covers.
* In Rock N Roll Gallery - A Journey From Sheffield to Sydney 1983 -2023, Tony Mott has carefully curated a compilation of just about every musician he has ever photographed and that’s a lot of musicians. From the first photo Tony sold for $20 of the Divinyls’ Chrissy Amphlett in Kings Cross, to exclusive iconic images of the Rolling Stones on tour. * The book is a limited edition collector’s item. It is an ode to rock and roll and the musicians who make it live forever, Rock N Roll Gallery is 240 pages of photos that tell the inside story of rock and roll over the past 40 years. * Tony takes the reader on a journey that spans oceans, continents and different career paths. From his childhood in Sheffield, Yorkshire, to working as a chef on cruise ships and then establishing a new life in Sydney in the 1980s where those first photos of the Divinyls had “a snowball effect” and lead to Tony being asked to photograph rock stars selling out the world’s biggest stadiums. * Tony reveals his top twenty photos ‘photographically’ (with his critical photographer lens), his top twenty photos ‘musically’ (from the heart of a lifelong music lover) and his A to Z of bands and artists over the years. * From August 2023 onwards, Tony plans to host exhibitions displaying the book’s photos and telling the stories behind the photos. These events will be held at venues both in the capital cities and regional areas, including the Australia Music Vault at the Arts Centre in Melbourne, and will attract attention from both music and photography lovers. Tony’s previous exhibits have been ‘must see’ events, including a popular exhibit at the State Library of NSW in late 2015-early 2016.
* State Library of NSW event 14th Dec.
* https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12867627/Photographer-Tony-Mott-favourite-stars-shoot.html
