The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2019 - Issue 26

bite exhibition His memory will certainly continue to live on, especially with the extraordinary, never-before-seen images of the late sing- er and actor by award-winning photographer Markus Klinko. Ahead of his Bowie Unseen exhibition at Zebra One Gallery in November 2019, guests were invited to view the images at Lon- don’s exclusive Tramp members club, where Bowie was a reg- ular. This prestigious nightclub with its beautifully decorated wooden decor and artistic motifs on the ceiling was the fitting place to present this. On display, there were eerie shots of Bowie as a blind man, fiercely posing with a pack of wild wolves, and cradling a baby. One of my favourites was The Cross, in which Bowie is seat- ed at a rustic wooden table, dressed in a light blue shirt and dark waistcoat, and a necklace with a cross emblem held in one hand and a cigarette in the other. All of the images were phenomenal and beautifully captured. It was almost like Bowie was in the room with us admiring images of him. Klinko was invited to shoot David Bowie for the cover of his 2002 album Heathen after he impressed the singer with the cover shot for his wife, Iman’s, first book, I Am Iman . “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 revealed. “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.” After the singer expressed his desire to commission Klinko to shoot his album cover, the tragic events of 9/11 took place less than a mile from the photographer’s studio so he briefly forgot about the prospect of shooting the star until, true to his word, Bowie phoned a few weeks later. “He is one of the very few ce- lebrities I have worked with who personally got involved, and was extremely communicative and very hands-on. 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, under- stated 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