BOOKS
CHANGING WITH THE LIGHT
GUIDO HARARI’S 2016 BOOK OF REMARKABLE PHOTOGRAPHS GATHERS SOME OF THE SINGER’S MOST STRIKING MOMENTS. PLUS, ON PAGE 122, WE ROUND UP 10 OF THE MOST ESSENTIAL REFERENCE WORKS FOR FANS…
JULIE BURNS
Over the years, renowned photographer Guido Harari has worked with a myriad of major rock artists, from Leonard Cohen to Tom Waits to Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, but one of his greatest career highlights was being offered the role of official photographer to Kate Bush. Harari's images of the ever-changing artist – the subject of stunning photo-journal The Kate Inside published in 2016, span publicity photos for 1985’s Hounds Of Love and The Sensual World through to rare exclusives taken on the set of 1993’s little-seen short musical film The Line, The Cross & The Curve…
Q How did working with legendary dancer and choreographer Lindsay Kemp provide a doorway to collaborating with Kate?
A
Lindsay was a sensation in Italy in
the late 70s, the epitome of rock theatre. I did a shoot for an Italian fashion magazine and he loved the photos so much that he proposed doing a book together. When I first met Kate in 1982, she was in Italy, promoting The Dreaming. Totally enthralled by my Lindsay book draft, she accepted to be photographed – in her astronaut gear and with her two dancers – after a TV performance, back at her hotel. It all suddenly turned into theatre and performance – and ever so wildly!
Q How did the creative process develop between you?
A For her official promotional photos for Hounds Of Love in 1985, Kate wanted something different. I had thought a lot about how to approach it, as I felt she had explored all significant avenues with Gered Mankowitz over the first two albums, while her brother John Carder Bush had started developing more conceptual photographs for her record covers. After stopping live performances, Kate had focused a lot on her videos, each of them intensely connecting with the songs. Where would I fit in and what could we achieve together? Kate took me aback, as she had no fixed ideas at this point. Here was the challenge: to capture the “real” Kate Bush with no mask and no persona. Tricky!
Q How was working with Kate on a personal level? I was a huge fan of Kate, though
A I was a huge fan of Kate, though never star-struck by her. She was softly spoken, quite literally the warmest person I had ever had the pleasure of meeting: fame and kindness in the same person. I was also aware – as Terry Gilliam once put it – that as much as she was the sweetest person on the planet, she was absolute steel inside. I knew Kate was totally focused on her music, and most of her social life revolved around the people she would work with. Also, her father had been handling her business affairs for quite a while, her brother