“I'm stuck with a valuable friend”
A signed collection of Geoff MacCormack’s David Bowie photographs are to be offered as part of Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia sale on June 28th, the month which marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Bowie’s debut album, David Bowie. The prints are thought to be among the last items Bowie signed.
Geoff (David’s close friend and travelling companion), shot the images whilst on a worldwide tour with the star in 1973 and while on set for the shooting of The Man Who Fell To Earth. MacCormack was a singer, percussionist, dancer and mime on the Bowie tours of 1973/74.
The journey took in New York, LA, San Francisco, Hawaii, Canada, Japan and a voyage on the Trans-Siberian express, which provides the backdrop to several of the photographs. The images show Bowie at his most relaxed and informal, a world away from the glamorous and outlandish personae he regularly adopted on stage.
Speaking of his friend, Geoff said: ‘For me, these images, which David loved, almost feel as if they belong in a family album. They capture the sense of two mates – one of whom just happened to have become a rock star – having the time of their lives.’
This carefree revelry is perfectly captured in one of the photographs, which depicts a slightly worse for wear Bowie asleep in their train berth aboard the Trans-Siberian Express. MacCormack explained: ‘We had drunk cheap Riesling and beer with a bunch of soldiers we’d met the night before. They were friendly and inquisitive as to what life was like in the West. In the image, you can just make out the bleak Siberian landscape through the window.’
The images will be on view at Bonhams Knightsbridge saleroom, Montpelier Street, from June 25th till the sale on the 28th, accompanied by a never–before–seen film of the journey from Japan to Moscow, for the ‘May Day Parade’, shot by Bowie himself and seen through his eyes, interspersed with MacCormack’s photographs. Called: ‘The Long Way Home, a film by David Bowie’, the short will be screened exclusively at the sale preview in Knightsbridge.
For more examples of Geoff MacCormack’s work, visit his website.
Also, check out this piece by Holly Bruce posted today over on GQ.
#TheLongWayHome #GeoffMacBowie