Gijsbert Hanekroot aka Gilbert

FROM ABBA TO ZAPPA

70s legendary rock stars photographed by Dutch photographer ’Gilbert’ Gijsbert Hanekroot
荷蘭藉攝影師’Gilbert’ Gijsbert Hanekroot 七十年代搖滾樂巨星⿊⽩相片展

16 February – 10 March 2019

Blue Lotus Gallery, 28 Pound Lane, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong 


Gijsbert Hanekroot, or ‘Gilbert’ as better known amongst the rock stars he photographed, will have his debut exhibition in Hong Kong at Blue Lotus Gallery, showing his grainy black and white photographs of 1970s rock legends in their prime including David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Patti Smith, Neil Young, BB King and other A-list artists who changed music forever. Gilbert gained intimate access to musical Gods we still worship today and amassed a visual rock-archive FROM ABBA TO ZAPPA. This rare opportunity to see a selection of Limited Edition and Vintage prints as well as related books will mark Blue Lotus Gallery’s first major exhibition at their brand new venue on 28 Pound Lane, Sheung Wan.

荷蘭藉攝影師Gijsbert Hanekroot，或被一眾搖滾樂團巨星們稱呼為「Gilbert」，於Blue Lotus Gallery 舉行他在亞洲的⾸次個⼈作品展覽。作品主要環繞七十年代搖滾樂⼿的⿊白相片，當中包括多位傳奇巨星如 David Bowie、Mick Jagger、Patti Smith、Neil Young、BB King等等。Gilbert 當年有幸近距離接觸拍攝多位巨星，相⽚繼⽽積累了從ABBA到ZAPPA的視覺搖滾記錄。今次展覽除了可一睹難得的限量版復古相片，以及相關書藉外，亦是Blue Lotus Gallery 移遷到上環磅巷28號新地址以來，第一個正式展覽。 

 
“We were catapulted from one (music) world to another. You could say that it was Abba one day and Zappa the next. We saw The Eagles in London, Paul McCartney in south of France, Bob Dylan in New York and the Stones in Hamburg. We visited London every two months. It was the most natural thing in the world back then, and looking back now, it was a fantastic time.”
— Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - in ‘Abba…Zappa’
 
“我們從一個(⾳樂)世界跳到另⼀個世界。你可以說今天是Abba⽽明天是Zappa。我們在倫敦看到The Eagles、在法國南部看到Paul McCartney、在紐約⾒到 Bob Dylan、⽽在漢堡遇到 Stones。我們每兩個⽉走訪⼀次倫敦。這是當時世界上最⾃然不過的事，現在回想起來，那真是一個美好的時光。 ”
— 擇錄⾃Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - ‘Abba...Zappa’⼀書 
Gijsbert Hanekroot 'Bob Dylan' (USA, 1974)

Gijsbert Hanekroot 'Bob Dylan' (USA, 1974)

“Back then, the rock scene was not quite the well-oiled machine it is today. Things still had to be invented: light installations, sounds, promotion, organisation, crowd control. This also applied to music journalism. How do you capture music, describe it? And equally important, how do you photograph it?”
— Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - in ‘Abba…Zappa’
“那時候的搖滾樂壇並不如今天般運作順暢。表演安排仍然有代改進，例如燈光、⾳響效果、宣傳、籌備⼯作以及⼈流控制。這些因素也是音樂相關報導的考慮。你如何捕捉⾳樂、如何去描述它？同樣􏰁重要的是，你如何去拍攝它？
”
— 擇錄自Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - ‘Abba...Zappa’一書
 
Gijsbert Hanekroot 'John Lennon / Yoko Ono' (UK, 1971)

Gijsbert Hanekroot 'John Lennon / Yoko Ono' (UK, 1971)

“The seventies: hectic, exciting, creative, constantly reinventing itself, full of self-confidence, sometimes tiresome, but never for long. What I’m saying is nothing new. Many have said it before me in different words, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I know, because I was there.”
— Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - in ‘Abba…Zappa’
“七十年代：狂亂、刺激、富創意、不斷重塑⾃我、充滿自信，亦有時令人厭倦喘不過氣，但從不長久。我所說的並不是甚麼新鮮事，從前已有許多人用不同形式說過，但這並沒有使它變得不真實。我很清楚，因為我曾於那個年代。”
— 擇錄自Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - ‘Abba...Zappa’一書
Gijsbert Hanekroot, Mick Jagger

Gijsbert Hanekroot, Mick Jagger

 
Blondie

Gijsbert Hanekroot 'David Bowie' (Netherlands, 1976)

“My ultimate favourite artist of all time was David Bowie. In 1971 I was in Air Studio, London, to shoot Roxy Music. During a break I went to the canteen where I bumped into David Bowie for the first time. He was by himself working on the lyrics of a song. He looked up and asked me my opinion about one particular line he was working on. I thought it was rather peculiar he asked a simple guy like me. I still regret not photographing him at that time but it was such a private moment and photographing him somehow seemed not appropriate. He was recording Ziggy Stardust, released a few months later. I did meet him five more times where I did get the chance to photograph him on and behind stage. He was something special, a true artist.
Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - in ‘Abba…Zappa’”
— Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - in ‘Abba…Zappa’
 
“我最喜歡的藝術家是David Bowie。 1971年，我在倫敦的Air Studio拍攝Roxy Music。在休息時我去了食堂，第⼀次碰到David Bowie，當時他獨⾃在研究歌詞。他抬起頭問我對他正在研究的歌詞有何看法，而我覺得他問一個像我這樣平凡的⼈是多麼奇怪的事。我仍然後悔當時沒有拍攝他，因為那是⼀個非常私人的時刻，拍攝他似乎不太合適。數個月後，他正在錄製Ziggy Stardust。往後我再遇過他五次，我有機會在舞台上和後台拍攝他。他是一個非常特別的人，一個真正的藝術家。 ”
— 擇錄⾃Gijsbert Hanekroot 2008 - ‘Abba...Zappa’一書

Born in 1945, Gilbert grew up in Amsterdam. At the age of thirteen, he was given his first camera by his mother. To hone his skills he read every book he could find on the subject of photography. At sixteen he dropped out of school and soon after started an internship with Philip Mechanicus, a celebrated photographer principally known for his portraits of writers and stage photography. He learned how to shoot in imperfect light conditions and how to develop his prints in the dark room with in a grainy black and white style. “What makes me deeply satisfied is catching that one fragile fleeting moment where the right light meets a striking composition and a certain beauty that derives from realness. I liked to stay during the whole interview and photograph until the subject was bored of me. That’s the moment that he or she would stop acting or posing, those often became the best pictures…” said Gilbert. In those days there was room for things to just ‘happen’ and experimentation was taking place across genres and industries, it was indeed encouraged to come-up with new ways of doing things and Gilbert believed that the journalists and photographers who were most ahead were those working with “a lack of inhibition, an openness that wasn’t limited by marketing concepts and sales pitches.”

Rock music was real, the performance itself was a tuning-in to a deeply primal human energumen. And you feel that when you look at his photographs. He had access to musicians under conditions that would be inconceivable today, being allowed to work for the entire duration of the concert, not only the first three songs, as is the case today.

His first ever shot was taken in 1963 of the one and only John Coltrane in a tuxedo holding his tenor sax, waiting to play. By the seventies Gilbert was the most wanted rock photographer in Holland, often commissioned by the Dutch leading music magazine Oor.  Those were the days of music, soon after Woodstock, the rock and pop scene literally exploded.

People would spend hours in record shops browsing vinyl to find their favourite records which in turn determined your lifestyle and fashion, even your politics and religion - music was everything. Attending concerts was an act of spirituality and Gilbert documented well-known figures as they transitioned from mere musicians to status of Gods, for example he recalls, “one of the more important shots I did is in 1973 of Neil Young with his band The Crazy Horse at the venue The Rainbow Theatre in London. It became the cover of his Tonight is The Night, released in 1975 which according to some is his best record to date.

Anton Corbijn, a well known fellow rock photographer started as an intern at Gilbert’s studio. “I passed him my knowledge on how to photograph and dark room techniques. I’m happy to have somehow contributed to his career although it was obvious to me that he had the ambition and determination to succeed. After 15 years I decided to throw in the towel and concentrate on other adventures instead.” Corbijn continued, took over at Oor Magazine and soon after moved to London where he broke through in the 80’s and made it as an internationally-known photographer. Finally Gilbert is receiving the recognition he deserves as the first Dutch rock photographer, his work speaking for itself as it so clearly tells the story of his achievement. 

Ten years ago Gilbert began to digitise his archives, this led to the publication of ‘Abba..Zappa | Seventies Rock Photography’ (Veenman, 2008) and consequent exhibitions in Paris, London, Moscow, Tokyo and Amsterdam. Today Gijsbert ‘Gilbert’ Hanekroot works mainly as a documentary and street photographer.

Gilbert 1954 年出⽣於荷蘭阿姆斯特丹。十三歲那年，媽媽送了他第一台相機。為了磨練自己的技巧，他讀遍可以找到的攝影書藉。Gilbert 於十六歳那年輟學後過了不久，便開始在 Philip Mechanicus 當實習攝影助手。Philip Mechanicus 是一位著名的⼈像及舞台攝影師，擅長為作家拍攝肖象。在那裡 Gilbert 學會在不完美的燈光下拍攝，以及如何在黑房冲印有顆粒狀效果的⿊白相片。「令我深感滿足的是抓住那個脆弱⽽短暫瞬間，正確的光線與令人驚嘆的構圖，以及源自真實的某種美麗相遇。我喜歡在整個採訪期間留下並拍照，直到受訪對象感到厭倦為止。就在這一刻他們開始放鬆，不再裝腔作勢，此時拍下的照片往往是最佳的作品。」Gilbert 回憶地說。在那些⽇子裡，事情還有空間可以「發⽣」，並且在不同類型和⾏業中進⾏實驗，確實⿎勵⼈們提出新的做事⽅式，Gilbert 認為最領先的記者和攝影師就是那些「缺乏抑制、開放不受營銷概念和銷售宣傳限制」的人。 

搖滾樂是真實的，表演本⾝就象是一種調節，是為極其原始的瘋狂狀態。當你看他的照⽚時，你會感受到那種狂熱。Gilbert被允許在整個⾳樂會期間拍攝，在今天而⾔是難以想像的，因為現在普遍只允許攝影師在前三⾸歌曲表演時進⾏拍攝。令⼈最印象深刻的是，1963年他第一次拍攝：穿著燕尾服，抱著薩克斯風預備表演的男⾼⾳ John Coltrane。七⼗年代，Gilbert 是荷蘭最受歡迎的搖滾攝影師，經常受到荷蘭著名音樂雜誌 Oor 的委託。那些是⾳樂的⽇子，在胡士托出現之後不久，搖滾和流⾏⾳樂的層⾯急劇擴⼤了。

⼈們會花數個小時在唱⽚店瀏覽⿊膠唱片，找到自己最喜歡的那張，這決定了你的⽣活⽅式和時尚，甚⾄是你的政治和宗教 - ⾳樂就是一切。出席⾳樂會是⼀種靈性⾏為，Gilbert 記錄了眾所周知的⼈物，他們從單純的⾳樂家轉變為神的地位，例如他回憶道：「我在1973年為 Neil Young 與他的樂隊 The Crazy Horse 在倫敦彩虹劇院合作拍攝的作品。它成為1975年發⾏的 Tonight is The Night 的唱⽚封面，對某些人⽽言，這是他迄今為止的最佳唱⽚。」

Anton Corbijn 是一位著名的搖滾攝影師，最初在 Gilbert ⼯作室當實習生。「我告訴他關於如何拍照和傳授他黑房技術相關知識。我很⾼興能以某種⽅式為他的職業⽣涯做出貢獻。十五年後，我決定專注於其他⼯作。」而 Corbijn 則繼續拍攝，接管音樂雜誌 Oor 的委託，其後搬到倫敦，並在80年代成為了國際知名攝影師。Gilbert 獲得了他應得的大眾認可 - 第⼀位荷蘭搖滾攝影師，因為他的作品清楚地講述了他的成就故事。⼗年前 Gilbert 開始電子數碼化他的攝影作品，整理並且結集出版成《Abba..Zappa | Seventies Rock Photography’ (Veenman, 2008)》一書並在巴黎、倫敦、莫斯科、東京及阿姆斯特丹展出。

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