Photographer Tony Mott reveals how music superstars behave in front of the camera in new book
Legendary music photographer Tony Mott has revealed the popular celebrities that won his praise and those that fell flat.
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Tony Mott has been on stage, side of stage and in the pit at almost every big gig or musical moment in Australia since he migrated to Sydney from his native Sheffield in the 1980s.
His passion for music and black and white photography collided when he discovered the Divinyls playing a weekly residency at the Piccadilly Hotel, and the band’s dynamic frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett became his muse.
“Every Monday night I would practise on Chrissy. What I didn't know at the time I was learning the art of rock’n’roll photography on one of the world’s greatest female performers,” Mott said. "I can say that now with a certain amount of credibility as I’ve now photographed over 300 female artists. Chrissy is without a doubt #1.”
When one of his shots was bought by the band to use on a tour poster, Mott became one of the go-to rock’n’roll photographers in Australia, taken on the road by legends including Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger and given invaluable backstage access to the greats as one of the Big Day Out official snappers.
He became so admired by artists that he created hundreds of iconic pairings for his shoots, one of the most famous being Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue backstage at the Big Day Out in Sydney where she had joined the goth rock god to sing their Where The Wild Roses Grow murder ballad.
When Cave discovered Mott’s cameras and film were stolen from the makeshift studio backstage during the Sydney show, he not only contacted Mott to line up another shoot in Melbourne but encouraged the photographer to sell the very valuable shots of the Aussie superstars so he could recoup his losses from the equipment theft.
Every Australian artist and band through the 90s and 2000s wanted a Mott shoot, and his images have graced the record sleeves of Sonic Youth, Beasts of Bourbon, Crowded House, Savage Garden, Avril Lavigne and Tommy Emmanuel. As well as hundreds of magazine covers around the world.
His new book Rock N Roll Gallery captures 40 years of snapping the famous and Next Big Things.
PAUL MCCARTNEY, 1995
Tony Mott: I’ve toured with a goddamn Beatle, bloody hell. Still pinching myself. Paul and Linda couldn’t have been better to shoot, again a goddamn Beatle. I was told in advance not to mention The Beatles in front of Paul. That’s funny, because he mentioned them on a regular basis. I spent a surreal lunch with him sailing on Sydney Harbour discussing the merits of travelling on a double decker bus. It is something he misses.
KASEY CHAMBERS, 2017
TM: I’ve known Kasey since she was 15 years old. Our mutual respect for Lucinda Williams has been a bond between us. I rate her so very highly. This was taken in the State Library in Sydney for a massive photo exhibition I had there.
BARRY GIBB & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, 2009
TM: Here’s a couple of legends from the sixties who were still going strong when I shot this (at Sound Relief concert). As close as I was ever going to get to seeing the Bee Gees.
KYLIE MINOGUE & NICK CAVE, 1996
TM: At the time it seemed like an odd combination. They hardy came from the same musical background, but it worked. Two Melbourne Icons and fun to shoot together. They did this photo session as a favour to me as I had just had all my camera equipment stolen (backstage at the Sydney Big Day Out).
MARIAH CAREY, 1997
TM: Possibly not my cup of tea (Carey was on a promotional tour to launch Butterfly record).
COLDPLAY, 2009
TM: Put an iconic image in the background and the overseas press lap it up. This was published in 10 countries. Unassuming guys. From a personal point of view, Coldplay shows you where the music taste is. In any other earlier era they’d just be another band but in their time they were one of the best, and that’s not a compliment.
WHITNEY HOUSTON, 1988
TM: What a voice, what a life … tragic.
JENNIFER LOPEZ 2004
TM: Shot on Sydney Harbour. Not really just Jenny from the block.
LADY GAGA, 2010
TM: Maybe it was not one of her best gigs, but I was very underwhelmed by her performance considering her profile. This was taken at Sydney Town Hall.
RIHANNA, 2009
TM: (My) second ever concert shot on digital. Got a sense of cheating as it was so easy to shoot with 95 per cent return as opposed to 20 per cent on a good night with film. Strangely I still prefer film though. Rihanna was very obliging and didn’t bat an eye when I accidentally interrupted her Sunday Christian prayers backstage.
SILVERCHAIR, 1991
TM: They were 15 years old when I took this very early publicity shot of Newcastle’s Silverchair. They had the attention span of a peanut.
Tony Mott – Rock N Roll Gallery can be ordered for $90 via tonymott.com
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