Pink Floyd is one of the world’s most iconic and influential bands.Their progressive and psychedelic music encompassing philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation and elaborate live shows has captured the hearts of fans for over five decades.

Now, the Lucy Bell Gallery in collaboration with Rockarchive.com is proud to present ‘Shine On’ an exhibition which showcases rare and iconic photographs from Pink Floyd’s remarkable career taken by some of the world’s greatest music photographers, including Andrew Whittuck, Jill Furmanovsky, Colin Prime, Tony Collins, Mick Rock and Storm Thorgerson.

Timed to coincide with the exhibition “Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains” at The V&A, Pink Floyd have achieved international acclaim and are one of the most commercially successful and influential groups in the history of popular music, having sold more than 250 million records worldwide.

Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by students Syd Barrett on guitar and lead vocals, Nick Mason on drums, Roger Waters on bass and vocals, and Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals. They gained popularity performing in London’s underground music scene during the late 1960s, and under Barrett’s leadership released two charting singles and a successful debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967).

From band’s earliest photo shoots in Ruskin Park & Hampstead, to the recording studio at Abbey Road and on the road during the Dark Side of The Moon Tour, the exhibition “Shine On” includes these and other classic images that capture Pink Floyd’s energy and unique, eclectic style both on and off stage.The exhibition also features alternative album artwork and other prints by the late, great graphic artist Storm Thorgerson, often referred to as Pink Floyd’s ‘sixth’ member, and whose designs are considered an inseparable part of their work.

Featured in the exhibition.Andrew Whittack / Pink Floyd 1960s. Pink Floyd at the mixing desk whilst recording their album ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn‘ in Abbey Road Studios. Andrew Whittuck recalls, “I shot all the Abbey Road images in black and white, with some colour, on my Hasselblad mainly so that they could use the Hasselblad shots for their forthcoming album ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’. Sadly it was not to be.”

‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ was the bands debut album and the only one made under founding member Syd Barrett’s leadership. The album was named after the title of chapter seven of Kenneth Grahame’s book ‘The Wind in the Willows’ and was recorded from February to June 1967 and released in August 1967.

This photograph is currently on display at the V&A’s ‘Their Mortal Remains’ Pink Floyd exhibition in London.Each size is available in a limited edition of 50 prints and signed by Andrew Whittuck. Andrew Whittuck/ Pink Floyd 1967Andrew Whittuck recalls, “I had a friend who knew the Pink Floyd managers and they were keen for any publicity, since Pink Floyd had only been formed 18 months before. They all came to my studio/bedroom in my parents’ house in Hampstead with all their instruments and most importantly for me, with their lighting guy. The only illumination I used was the lighting they used in their gigs, a 35mm Kodak projector with glass slides with a mixture of oil/water and coloured ink, heated by a hair dyer close up, so that the ever changing bubbles of colour floated over them.”

This photograph is currently on display at the V&A’s ‘Their Mortal Remains’ Pink Floyd exhibition in London.

Each size is available in a limited edition of 50 prints and signed by Andrew Whittuck.‍

Storm Thorgerson – Pink Floyd Covers 1990s

Alternative version of the image designed to advertise the Pink Floyd back catalogue in 1997 designed by Storm Thorgerson. This is very similar to the actual version used. Storm Thorgerson recalled ‘We were asked to design a campaign image to advertise the back catalogue of Pink Floyd, well known popular music ensemble. Our resident black-frocked artiste, Finlay Cowan suggested humorously that we put Pink Floyd covers on the backs of female models. He laughed nervously, thinking that this was a bit on the obvious side. We decided to body paint the covers, rather than projection or compositing, which allows the contours to follow the attractive curves of the female models. In addition they would have course have to be unclothed, thus appealing to the testosterone levels. In order to display their backs more gracefully, they needed to sit somewhere, and the edge of a swimming pool seemed very natural. The poses adopted by the girls seemed equally natural. The finished artwork was used mainly as a poster, the alternate version you see here showed one of them slipping into the pool for a quick bathe. It is otherwise very similar to the published piece.‘This is a limited edition of 40 prints.

This print is signed by Storm Thorgerson

Storm Thorgerson – Pink Floyd Cover 1990s

Storm Thorgerson recalls “I consider this, unashamedly, to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. Can I say that? Not so much for the dialogue with the viewer and not so much for the implications of the third absent face i.e. that of Syd Barrett, formed by the two eyes looking at you, rather than at each other, but more because of the statues themselves, designed with wild-eyed Keith Breeden were very imposing in their own right, majestic, elegant and monolithic, standing eerily in the Fens of East Anglia.”This is a limited edition of 90 prints.

The available prints in this edition are signed by Storm Thorgerson.‍

Andrew Whittuck – Syd Barrett 1967S

Syd Barrett on an early photo shoot in London in June 1967, not long before recording Pink Floyd’s debut album.

Andrew Whittuck recalls “I had a friend who knew the Pink Floyd managers and they were keen for any publicity, since the Floyd had only been formed 18 months before. They all came to my studio/bedroom in my parents’ house in Hampstead with all their instruments and most importantly for me, with their lighting guy.”

Jill Furmanovsky – Pink Floyd New York 1980

David Gilmour’s superb guitar solo during ’Comfortably Numb’. This was shot during Pink Floyd’s The Wall Tour in New York in February 1980. “I like live shots. They are the most effective shots because they’re the only ones that show you doing what you do rather than posing for a camera.” (David Gilmour in ’The Moment’)The New York Times stated “‘The ‘Wall’ show remains a milestone in rock history though and there’s no point in denying it. Never again will one be able to accept the technical clumsiness, distorted sound and meagre visuals of most arena rock concerts as inevitable” and concluded that “the ‘Wall’ show will be the touchstone against which all future rock spectacles must be measured.”

Jill Furamanovsky – Pink Floyd – Dressing Room The Dome 1972

Jill Furmanovsky recalls, “One of a series of relaxed images taken by this very inexperienced photographer. At this point I was still a first year college student with no more than two weeks education in photography. The flash I was using did not cover the width of the lens and there is fall-off both to the left and to the right. However, it is a very rare band shot from that period, and such merits inclusion here.”Limited edition of 30 prints, signed by Jill Furmanovksy.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH ROCKARCHIVE