His classic hit songs, like “Summer of ’69” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” are ingrained in the minds of millions.
But Canadian rock icon Bryan Adams doesn’t know how to work only his guitar and vocal chords – he can work a camera too.
Adams, who now lives in London, has spent years developing another successful career – as a photographer. The artist says it keeps him from getting bored. “I think if you always do the same thing every day, you can get tired of it. So if you change your scenario once in a while, and get back to what you were doing before, you see it in a fresh light,” he told Global National‘s Sean Mallen.
Many of Adams’s subjects are colleagues in the music world – sometimes, like you’ve never seen them before.
Back in March, he managed to persuade fellow Canadian singer Jann Arden to pose naked for Zoomer magazine.
And Wednesday, his photos of a topless Pink were released to promote his new photo book, the appropriately titled Exposed. Adams told Billboard.com, “It was a nice day. It was kind of hot outside. I suggested (going topless) might be a good idea; she said to me, ‘Not even my husband talks to me like that,’ and then off came her T-shirt.”
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Amy Winehouse is also featured in the publication. Adams arranged at least four shoots – twice in 2007, and twice in 2010 – with the troubled singer before her premature demise in July 2011. He was warned in advance that she could be a troublesome subject, but he says that wasn’t the case.
“She showed up right on time. We had a really good day. And later on, she called and said, ‘Can you get me some of those photographs for me? I want to send them to my husband (Blake Fielder-Civil)… he’s in prison,” Adams recalled.
Back in 2002, Adams was even able to score a session with Queen Elizabeth II, which happened after a call out of the blue from his agent.
“He goes: ‘Do you want to photograph the queen?’ I said, ‘Wow, yeah…that’d be great.’ ‘Well you have to go to her house, though.’ I said, ‘OK…where?’ He said ‘A little place called Buckingham Palace…’ ‘Oh yeah…I know where that is…yeah.'”
The pictures were taken as part of the Queen’s golden jubilee celebrations that year. A cropped version of the portrait ended up on a Canadian stamp.
From supermodels like Cindy Crawford and Elle MacPherson, to movie stars like Michael J. Fox and Helena Bonham-Carter, bad boy Tommy Lee and bad girl Lindsay Lohan, Adams’s portfolio is extensive. He has even done work for Audi, Vogue Italy, Guess, and H&M.
“Nobody’s seen a lot of this work and I think some of it needs to be seen, particularly some of the iconic shots of people like Amy or Michael Jackson, and I think it’ll become a bit of a document.”
His next major project will depart from celebrity, with harrowing portraits of wounded soldiers. And along the way, he emphasizes photographer Bryan Adams will always also be musician Bryan Adams.
Follow Sean on Twitter: @SMallenGlobal
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