Polak photographed the most trailblazing musicians of the 1960s and 70s, including a one-off performance from legendary supergroup The Dirty Mac
A collection of rare and unseen prints shot by Dick Polak, the defining photographer of the swinging sixties, is now open at the Gibson Garage London. The exhibition will run for six months and offers collectors an opportunity to view and purchase unique vintage prints from the esteemed Polak archive.
Polak sadly passed away in April earlier this year, and all images for the exhibition—named Dick Polak: A 20th Century Boy—have been curated by The Dick Polak Estate, the Gibson Garage, and RedHouse Gallery. The exhibition is also complemented by a series of new prints from his longtime friend and Rolling Stones guitarist, Ronnie Wood.
The exhibition includes candid portraits of The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, the Faces, The Who, and Marc Bolan, among other tastemakers who shaped music history. One of Polak’s most legendary jobs took place in 1968, when Mick Jagger invited him to photograph the filming of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. The concert film included a one-off performance by supergroup The Dirty Mac, featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono on vocals, Eric Clapton on guitar, Keith Richards on bass, and Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi Hendrix Experience on drums.
Across his career, Polak blurred the lines between photographer and friend, building lifelong bonds with many of the musicians he shot. The time he spent hanging out with the artists he worked with enabled him to capture them when they were most themselves, resulting in a truly unique catalog of work unlike any other in music photography. “Dick’s old pics are great!” Says Ronnie Wood. “He was always there snapping away, but you never saw him.”
Steve Winwood, another artist photographed by Polak, says, “Dickie was around a lot in those days… Actually, he was around so much he sort of became part of the scene of what was going on in rehearsals in the studio. Doing shoots with him was easy; he was just there,and you never had to pose or anything.”
Follow Gibson UK on Instagram for more from the Gibson Garage London, and view more images from the exhibition via RedHouse Originals Gallery.
