ST LEONARDS ON SEA.- Timed to coincide with the publication of his new book Brian Aris/Celebrating George, published by Octopus on 9th April. The book and exhibition by world renowned photographer Brian Aris explores three decades photographing one of the greatest vocal performers of the 20th Century, George Michael. George Michael hated having his photo taken, which makes series of images such a special tribute.
This stunning collection of photographs features iconic George Michael images throughout his career—including many never before published.
The man born as Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou hated being photographed, and that makes this volume such an unusual and beautiful tribute to one of the music world’s most beloved stars. First meeting when he shot Wham!, Brian Aris gained George’s trust and subsequently enjoyed unprecedented access to document the complex and sensitive character behind one of pop’s most talented and consummate artists.
Dreaming of stardom from an early age, George achieved popularity first with Wham! and later reached heights of even greater success after re-creating himself as a serious solo artist with songs and music videos that remain iconic to this day. Tragically, he died on Christmas Day 2016 at just fifty-three.
With text documenting George’s life and Brian’s memories of his sessions and meetings with the star, together with iconic shots, contact sheets, and previously unseen images, this is an amazing, heartfelt tribute to one of the world’s most likable and talented performers who is one of the all-time immortal greats of pop music.
Brian Aris describes his time photographing George Michael:
“From the early days, when he first burst on the scene in 1981 as one half of Wham!, the pop duo he formed with Andrew Ridgeley, to the later years when he went on to enjoy even greater worldwide success as a sophisticated and glamorous solo artist, George was always fascinating to work with.
For such an amazingly extroverted and apparently self-assured performer on stage, he could be remarkably shy and self-conscious in front of the stills camera, and yet he always knew precisely what look he wanted to achieve and the image he wanted to present to the fans, checking every shot minutely before finally approving it.
It helped our professional relationship that I loved his music and that superbly soulful voice. With his exceptional talents he seemed destined to become one of the greatest artists of his generation, with a long-lasting career stretching in front of him - but tragically that was not to be.
Before his untimely death in 2016, at the age of just 53, he had nevertheless succeeded in establishing himself as one of our most significant cultural icons and one of the best-selling musicians and songwriters of all time, with record sales of 120 million worldwide that are still growing.
At the same time, George became an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV charity fundraiser, whilst also very privately and anonymously supporting numerous other charities, always avoiding any personal publicity. The full extent of his extraordinary generosity only really came to light after his passing”
We hope you will enjoy Aris’s photographs of an exceptionally gifted, extraordinarily generous, extremely kind and thoughtful man, who thankfully left us a legacy of the most wonderful music that will live long into the future.
The Book Signing Of Celebrating George is Saturday 11th April. 6-9pm
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