Kevin Cummins is one of Britain's most celebrated music photographers, known for creating iconic imagery that captures both the sound and spirit of his subjects. His 1979 photograph of Joy Division on a snowy Manchester bridge is widely considered one of the greatest music photographs ever taken. Born in Manchester in 1953, Cummins served as chief photographer at NME for over 10 years and has photographed some of the most prominent cultural figures of the last five decades, including David Bowie, The Smiths, Oasis, Ian Curtis, and Patti Smith. His portrait of Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards stamped with Marilyn Monroe images was voted Best NME Cover of all time.
Cummins’ photographs have appeared on over 500 magazine covers and he has published 16 monographs, with Oasis: The Masterplan being his most recent.
His archive was recently acquired by the John Rylands Library at Manchester University as part of their British Pop Archive. He received an honorary doctorate from Manchester University in 2015.
