CHLOE MAGAZINE
T
he real turning point for Adams’
budding photographic career was
when he started finding suitable
printers for his shots. “Once I found
good printers for both colour and black &
white, it was like Christmas every time I got
prints back,” he says. “That completely inspired me.” That inspiration was heaven-sent,
because Adams has taken some of the most
iconic photos of the most iconic musical figures
around. Mick Jagger, Amy Winehouse, Tina
Turner, Annie Lennox and many others are all
part of his visual repertoire. Aiming to capture
casual, honest moments of his subjects, Adams
brings out the vulnerable side of his subject in
his photos. Amy Winehouse, in particular, was
a memorable subject of his - he says she was so
open-minded and easy to work with. But, her
vulnerability came from her own sense of self,
he just happened to be there to photograph it.
Fortunately for him, there was not much of a
resistance in his early dabblings with photography. “There weren’t any that I can think of,”
he says. “I had a platform already with doing
my own albums and tours, so it was really just
where to take it from there.” And lucrative did
his photography become - Adams is an awardwinning fashion photographer with work in
Harper’s Bazaar, i-D, Interview, Esquire, mul-
tiple iterations of Vogue, among other fashion
publications. He also has many photographic
exhibitions globally, with many of his first ones
shown in Canada. As well, he has published two
photographic books: Bryan Adams Exposed,
which is a collection of his best portraiture of
his musical friends and colleagues, and Wounded - The Legacy of War, a heavy-handed exploration of the real consequences of war. And
this November, Adams is publishing a third
book, Bryan Adams Untitled, an abstract visual
discussion of the sea in all its grandeur. Clearly,
Adams’ double-duty creativity is prolific.
It is interesting to see where and how far Bryan
Adams’ career has taken him. Not many musicians can say that their work also appears in
various iterations of Vogue. Not many musicians can say that they’ve photographed their
biggest influences. Yes, Adams has built an
empire under his hit-for-hit discography, but
his impressive juggling of two creative mediums
is nothing short of inspirational. Much of his
creative endeavours feature heavily cropped
ideas and opinions. But, Adams insists honesty
and authenticity is the core in all of his work “after all, doesn’t life sometimes imitate art?”