A Canadian rock legend known for hits like ‘Summer of ’69‘ and ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,’ Bryan Adams has cultivated a parallel career as an acclaimed photographer over the past two decades. His portraits, which have graced the pages of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, have captured cultural icons from Queen Elizabeth II to Kate Moss.
Bryan Adams is bringing his photography to the Middle East for the first time with his solo exhibition, #SHOTBYADAMS, at JD Malat Gallery in Downtown Dubai. The exhibition features a bold new series where he uses layers of colored plexiglass to create a unique, dreamlike effect, exploring themes of perception and distortion.
Ahead of the exhibition opening, he shares some pearls of wisdom with Esquire Middle East…
When I walk into a room the first thing I notice is the light and how it fills the space. I love high ceilings.
I moonlight as a singer, which means picking songs to sing at karaoke is easy
The first ever gig I got paid for was the first time any one had ever paid me for anything. It was enough to pay my rent and take my brother to dinner. That was the moment that I thought I could make a living being an artist.
I first got into photography when I was young. My uncle used to work for the Ilford film company in England and he would send us over some film rolls, no one used them except me.
Whether it is music or photography my creativity comes from the same place: you are making something from nothing. One day you have a blank piece of paper the next you have a song. Same with the camera, you start with and empty space, and you fill it with the light and shadow that you want.
I’m not the kind of photographer that takes 1,000 shots. When I’m shooting a profile of someone, I normally take around 30
When you think you have the perfect shot, always take a few more. The great photographer Herb Ritts taught me that.
There’s always a set number of frames that are in my photography exhibitions. After those, I work with the museum or in the case of the Dubai exhibition, we worked with JD Malat Gallery to select the others.
I don’t have a preference between posed and candid photography. I think what makes my photos unique is they are both, it is exactly what I’m looking for in the subject.
I’d love to shoot Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, but truthfully there is a long list of people and musicians I’d love to work with.
At home, I only have a few paintings on the walls. There are a small collection of some of my photography dotted around the place, mostly leaning up against the walls.
A lot of people have come to my photography studio and haven’t realised that it’s actually me. Moby once said to me, “Man, you even look like Bryan Adams!” Apparently, he had no idea.
The song that most people sing at me is ‘The only thing that looks good on me is you’.
The only thing that looks good on me? Light.
#ShotbyBryanAdams, Sept 2 to 30, JD Malat Gallery, Downtown Dubai. jdmalat.com
