Bowie by Sukita – From London to Japan features more than 100 iconic portraits of David Bowie and a unique look into the long friendship between the photographer and the superstar. Sukita, who followed Bowie for 40 years, is the photographer behind many of the most famous portraits of the artist, such as the cover of the legendary album Heroes from 1977.
“Seeing David Bowie on stage opened my eyes to his creative genius. I was watching Bowie perform with Lou Reed and it was really powerful. Bowie was different from other rockers, he had something special that I knew I had to photograph.” Masayoshi Sukita
The two met via Sukita’s friend Yasuko Takahashi, a stylist whose works included Bowie’s stage costumes during his Ziggy Stardust era. The meeting was the beginning of a long friendship.
Masayoshi Sukita
After studying photography, Masayoshi Sukita (born in 1938) moved to Tokyo in 1965, where he worked as a fashion and advertising photographer. In the early 1970s, he took a liking to the music and art scenes of New York and London. He met David Bowie for the first time in 1972.
Besides his partnership with Bowie, Sukita also photographed countless other artists like Iggy Pop, Joe Strummer, Y.M.O, The B-52’s, Devo, P.I.L., as well as film industry greats like Jim Jarmusch and Shuji Terayama.
In 2009, Sukita was represented in the exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. In 2012, solo exhibitions were held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and the Paul Smith Space Gallery in London. In 2013, he was responsible for many of the material in the exhibition David Bowie is at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, which broke visitor records. That same year, a large retrospective of his works toured throughout Japan.
For opening hours and tickets, see our Swedish page about the exhibition https://kulturhusetstadsteatern.se/utstallningar/bowie-by-sukita-london-japan-0
Masayoshi Sukita
Fotografen Masayoshi Sukita (född 1938) flyttade efter fotostudier till Tokyo 1965 där han arbetade som mode-och reklamfotograf. I början av 70-talet lockades Sukita till New York och Londons musik- och konstscener. 1972 träffade han David Bowie för första gången.
Utöver samarbetet med Bowie porträtterade Sukita också otaliga artister som Iggy Pop, Joe Strummer, Y.M.O, The B-52’s, Devo, P.I.L. och personer i filmbranschen som Jim Jarmusch och Shuji Terayama.
2009 representerades Sukita i utställningen Who Shot Rock & Roll på Brooklyn Museum, New York. 2012 hade han soloutställningar på Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography och på Paul Smith Space Gallery i London. 2013 stod han för mycket av materialet i utställningen David Bowie is på Victoria & Albert Museum i London som slog publikrekord. Samma år turnerade också en stor retrospektiv utställning med hans verk i hela Japan.
Fotoutställningen Bowie by Sukita – from London to Japan på Kulturhuset Stadsteatern.
Foto: Untitled, 1973©Photo by Sukita 2023
