Bryan Adams Exposed

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  Sir Mick Jagger, New York  © Bryan Adams 

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  Lindsay Lohan, New York  © Bryan Adams

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  Amy Winehouse Mustique  © Bryan Adams

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  Sir Ben Kingsley, London  © Bryan Adams

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  Billy Idol, Los Angeles  © Bryan Adams

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  Marine Joe Townsend, London  © Bryan Adams

Agrandir

“We all knew Bryan Adams had a voice. Now that he has worn his other hat, as a photographer, we get to see his eye.”

- Ingrid Sischy, editor of Vanity Fair

discover nearly one hundred portraits of subjects ranging from Queen Elizabeth II to Mick Jagger by way of Kate Moss and Louise Bourgeois, all of them special encounters encapsulated by a photographer who considers himself simply a “collector of memorable moments.”

Bryan Adams (born in Kingston, Ontario, in 1959) has been a successful rock singer-songwriter since the early 1980s, but he is also an acclaimed photographer, having published several books of his photographs, co-founded Zoo Magazine and earned numerous distinctions, including two Lead Awards in Germany. Self-taught, Adams documented his work on tour long before he became a professional photographer toward the end of the 1990s.

Specializing in portraits and fashion, Bryan Adams captures the personality and highly charged sensibility of his subjects, primarily actors, models and celebrities from the world of music and the visual arts. He is a contributor to fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle. In 2003, his portrait of Queen Elizabeth II done the previous year to commemorate Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee was selected for a Canadian stamp.

Wounded — The Legacy of War

The other selection of photographs presents his most recent work with British soldiers who have fought in Afghanistan or Iraq. These intimate images pay stunning tribute to the dignity and courage of these individuals seared in their flesh by battles that will forever remain graven on our memories. The images are also a testament to their loved ones, who have also had to learn to live with the aftermath of war.

The project began in 2008 when British journalist Caroline Froggatt visited renowned military rehabilitation centre Headley Court, where she met Marine Mark Ormrod, who had lost three limbs just five months earlier. What struck her was not what this young man had lost but what remained—his courage, humour and extraordinary fortitude. She approached Bryan Adams with a view to producing portraits that would spark curiosity and foster discussion. How did this person survive? What does this injury mean for him and his family? What does the future hold? Was it worth it?

In 2013, Caroline Froggatt and Bryan Adams published Wounded – The Legacy of War, a book featuring photographs and first-person accounts from 40 British servicemen and women, with proceeds from the book going to veterans’ charities.

The portraits from this series were exhibited last year at Somerset House in London. A selection of these photographs is presented here.
 

The exhibition Bryan Adams Exposed is organized by Crossover of Hamburg, Germany and curated by Anke Degenhard and Mat Humphrey. Its presentation at the MNBAQ is the only opportunity to see the work in eastern Canada.