Steve Gullick’s Iconic Music Photography Captures the Essence of Rock

Transmission 158: Interview with Steve Gullick

For almost three decades, Steve Gullick has been a well-known professional photographer in the music industry. He is the guy behind the iconic underground music cover magazines. In the 1980s, he began photographing any gig he could smuggle a camera into, as well as shooting sessions for fanzines. What aroused his interest was the photographer’s capacity to transform the ordinary into the spectacular; to him, there seems no point in just capturing what one saw with their eyes. One of the parts of being a photographer, is the ability to be  in the background, and let musicians do their rock thing, since they need to feel comfortable. Spontaneity forms is an integral part of his photography. His black and white portraying adds a lot of color, since they deeply connect with the subjects. Colour was of less interest until he started processing his own films and making his own colour prints in the late 1990’s, then he was able to experiment and find where he wanted to be on a colour level.

Title: Hell Never Called
Artist: Tenebrous LIAR
Genres: Alternative Rock, Experimental Music, Post-punk, Psychedelic Rock, Space Rock
Label: God Unknown Records
Description: Steve Gullick discusses his new Tenebrous LIAR album, his career in music photography, and his approach to capturing sound and vision.

His images are also focusing on empathy; as a musician himself, best known as tenebrous LIAR, he can empathize and more accurately communicate the character of a band. His main aim is to make his subjects feel comfortable. The fascinating part in analogue shooting for Steve is the ‘after’, that is just as important as the shoot. He enjoys the process of photography in all its parts, even the decision about how the film is processed. Since he began his career being a photographer involved film processing and darkroom printing. For this reason he has been known to use hotel rooms as darkrooms and he often worked all night and delivered the prints the morning after. Nowadays he also uses digital cameras, since this is an era where remaining competitive whilst shooting only on film is impossible. He believes that digital has devalued these art; of course, he is aware that digital allows for greater certainty in many cases, but he still believes that the genuine magic of photography is seeing the negative, putting it into the darkroom, and walking out with a print.He never takes stereotypical rock and roll photos, and Steve dislikes being too in control; he believes it is more creative to not know what will happen next. For him, the finest photographs have emerged from challenges. His work entails capturing an engaging photograph in every scenario.

This interview is also published in issue no. 01 of our free digital magazine Retrofuturista.

One of Steve’s most prolific eras coincided with one of the most hot burning times in rock music history. Nirvana entered his life in October 1990 when he heard ‘Sliver’ on the John Peel show.  The photographs he took of Nirvana are renowned for their rough posture and piercing portrayal, but he also captured their joking about and laughter. Since 2013 was the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’ album it seemed an appropriate opportunity for him to put on a solo Nirvana exhibition. Steve created amazing images documenting their incredible and stormy history, including press headshots, candid performance shots, and pages of on-stage turmoil.

He released “The Nirvana Diary” also, which he describes as a photographic journey of the times that he spent shooting the band and their crazy times. Kurt Cobain Dave and Krist gave Steve some of his most famous work in the midst of the grunge era, at an explosive moment. Sonic Youth, Beck, Bjork, Neil Young, Depeche Mode, Mark Lanegan, Pearl Jam, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Richard Hawley, The Progidy, Spiritualized, Patti Smith, Foo Fighters, The White Stripes, Kim Deal, Cat Power, Jason Pierce, Thurston Moore, Seasick Steve, The Raconteurs, Mercury Rev, Jeff Buckley and Grinderman amongst many others, the list is almost endless … His photographs have featured in The Times, Mojo, Rolling Stone, Wire, Q, and NME, to mention a few magazines. On March 7th 2025 his new album with his band tenebrous LIAR will be released by label God Unknown.

Steve Gullick‘s official site | Facebook | Instagram

Do you remember the first photographs that pulled you into photography? What photographers or artists have influenced you, and why?

Pictures of the band Queen – I loved them so much (still do) – then the dark black & white work of Bill Brandt & Don McCullin, then seeing that style applied to rock & roll via the NME bods like Anton Corbijn, Peter Anderson et al.

How did you understand you wanted to take photos and what motivated you to document music and its culture?

Since the age of fourteen, I’ve been obsessed equally with music & photography… to combine the two seemed like a good idea!

How does your personal relationship with music impact the way you depict it visually?

This used to be more of a thing for me than it is now, I used to be way more earnest about it – it served me well, I got to work with so many of the artists I admire, I feel artists & labels are now able to judge if my work could fit based on my past repertoire.

Can you share with us  a moment when you felt a deep emotional connection to your artwork behind the camera?

It tends to hit more after… in the moment, I’m too engaged in the process of recording whatever it is I’m confronted with… the darkroom is where the emotion can hit.

Was there ever a shoot that didn’t go as planned but led to unexpectedly great results?

Probably – I’m usually pretty ‘rabbit in the headlights’ during a shoot, a session is a series of problems that need to be navigated, I try to be prepared for ANYTHING.

Film and digital photos have different advantages. How does each medium influence your creative process? 

I’ve resented digital photography for years, I’m finally accepting its distinct advantages over film in certain situations. It’s become the norm, it’s convenient & it’s as easy as pissing. By default, I now have a big arsenal of great digital photographs that I adore – than said, I much preferred the world when it was exclusively analogue.

You’ve taken many iconic musicians portraits, can you share a favorite anecdote from one of those collaborations?

The first time I photographed Will Oldham in 1993, he was with Brit Walford, they were in London to promote the first Palace Brothers album. They said “you can take one photo”, I responded that I’d do no such thing, I put the camera on the table, got them in the frame… It was loaded with 36 exposures, I told them I wouldn’t move the camera but that I’d keep my finger on the button until the film was shot & that it was up to them what they did… They sat there motionless. Will & I have been friends ever since.

In what ways do you think photography can shape the way people experience music and its culture?

Seems essential – IT’S ALWAYS GON HAND IN HAND – Record covers, pin ups of your favourite musicians – Transformer – London Calling, Superfuzz Bigmuff – Images & music are inseparable.

The music world has undergone significant changes over the decades. How do you think music photography has evolved with it, and where do you see it heading?

You tell me – I’m just looking to ride it out, I’m not looking to evolve, get a set of tools & a working practice I love – every new sitter comes with a face & stories to share… I love it!

Photos courtesy of Steve Gullick

Dominique Musorrafiti

Ciao! My name is Dominique. I’m Italian and I’m proud to be a mix. My father was an Italian chemical engineer and high school teacher, with Greek and Polish heritage. My mother is Haitian, she was high school language teacher, with Dominican, Spanish, French, Portuguese, African and Native American heritage. Being a mix makes me appreciate to want to understand different cultures and lifestyles. I grew up in Italy, lived few years in Haiti, travel around main European capitals, lived many years in China, in Spain and UK. Traveling makes me feel that we can learn something from every situation in every part of the world.