Bowie Unseen at Zebra One Gallery

The memory of the late David Bowie is being revived with never-before-seen images by award-winning photographer Markus Klinko for his Bowie Unseen exhibition at the Zebra One Gallery in Hampstead, north London. Images of the iconic superstar include eerie shots of Bowie as a blind man; fiercely posing with a pack of wild wolves, and cradling a baby. Visitors to the gallery will be able to view while interested parties have the opportunity to purchase these shots until the end of November.

Klinko worked with Bowie after he was invited to shoot the Heroes legend for the cover of his 2002 album, Heathen after the photographer impressed him with the cover shoot for his wife Iman’s first book, I Am Iman. Klinko recalls: “Iman returned to the studio to take a look over the edits with me, and to my great surprise, David Bowie came along to help choose the cover. He was every bit as charismatic and extraordinary as one can imagine, but really kind and lovely to talk to. David was very involved in the selection process and had a great eye for imagery.” 

It was then that Bowie invited Klinko to shoot his album cover. Tragically, the terrible events of 9/11 took place less than a mile from Klinko’s studio, so the photographer briefly forgot about the prospect of shooting the star until, true to his word, Bowie phoned a few weeks later. Klinko adds: “He is one of the very few celebrities I have worked with who personally got involved, and was extremely communicative and very hands-on.”

Adding, he said: ”He asked if I could come over to a Broadway recording studio and listen to some tracks. I went over the next day and wandered around the old, understated studio to find Bowie and his producer, Tony Visconti in one of the rooms. Bowie said they wanted to play some of the new songs for me before discussing the album art. The mental image of Bowie sitting by a window, smoking cigarettes while his producer played the rough mixes from the board, is a memory that I will never forget. After listening to almost the entire album together, we started talking about the shoot. He had many ideas and was very precise about them.” 

And these rare images are the legacy, capturing a creative alliance between the star and photographer – Bowie Unseen is curated from some of the incredible and previously unseen images taken on that extraordinary day. Before the images were shown at Tramp members club in October, Zebra One Gallery owner Gabrielle Du Plooy said: “We’re extremely excited that Markus Klinko is flying over to London so that we can share these extraordinary images and raise funds for such an important cause.” 

Tramp GM David Fleming added: “It’s particularly apt that the private view will be held at Tramp, where Bowie spent many happy evenings with his first wife Angie and then second wife Iman, sitting in our Zodiac Restaurant and people-watching.” 

 

Klinko has photographed the likes of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, and Naomi Campbell. His editorial clients include Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar. Brands such as Lancôme, L’Oréal Paris, Nike, Hugo Boss, and Remy Martin have hired Klinko to create advertising campaigns. His campaign for Keep A Child Alive raised more than $1 million for children with AIDS in just a few days. 

The exhibition showing at Zebra One Gallery from 1st November to 30th November 2019, aims to raise funds for cancer, the disease David Bowie succumbed to in 2017, with 10% from sales of the images donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Zebra One Gallery, 1 Perrin’s Ct, Hampstead, London NW3 1QX 

www.zebraonegallery.com

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