Photographer Mick Rock Remakes His Debbie Harry Masterpiece

In an exclusive interview with UK publication express.co.uk, photographer Mick Rock talked about recreating his famous 1970's snapshot of Blondie front-woman Deborah Harry:

THE man who immortalised the rock 'n' roll era of the Seventies - photographer Mick Rock - recreates some of his most famous images including Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody album cover and his iconic Debbie Harry masterpieces

From David Bowie and Blondie to The Sex Pistols and Queen's most icon album cover, photographer Mick Rock has earned his title as "the man that shot the Seventies".

But the British photographer isn't stuck in the era of rock 'n' roll. Some of his newest work features modern legends including Lady Gaga, The Killers and American rapper Snoop Dog. In a recent interview with The Independent, Rock even said he would be keen to shoot twerking fanatic Miley Cyrus.

His most famous images are the classic shots of Blondie singer Debbie Harry and other musical legends of the era. And the 65-year-old has been taking a trip down memory lane by shooting a series of replicas of his most famous work, in a collaboration with Nikon called The Revisited.

The new collection includes a modern version of a classic Debbie Harry photo with a bright blue background, glam punk make-up and immaculate red lips.

Rock revealed that Debbie was one of his favourite people to photograph during his early days as a photographer. "Debbie was a photographic prize for anybody. Some people think I took the best pictures ever taken of her because they were her most like Marilyn Monroe," he said.

"But that’s beside the point in many ways because she could run the whole spectrum – punk, glam. I’ve never seen a bad photo of her. She is certainly one of the most photogenic women to have ever lived."

"I can’t think of any modern singers or actresses that come close to Debbie in her prime. Debbie has become such an icon – she’s grown bigger than rock and roll."

The photographer, who launched his career with an unknown David Bowie image in 1972, also took the image for the cover of Queen's second album. The image of the band's four floating heads in a sea of black became one of the most iconic album covers of all time.

In the recent shoot, Rock recreated the image with Danielle Parente and her three piece band.

Mick Rock resurrects some of his favourite old lenses, such as the 28mm for a shoot in New York [PH]

Rock took the collection photos on the new Nikon Df, which reflects the designs of the classic Nikon 35mm film cameras he would have used back in the Sixties and Seventies, but with the latest cutting-edge features.

Rock said he enjoyed using the modern technology with some of his classic old lenses.

"If I’m shooting very fast with other cameras I may lose focus or the right exposure for a few frames or maybe they will actually stop shooting," he said. "With this camera I can be totally relentless and completely maintain focus and exposure."