Michael Cooper (photographer)
Encyclopedia
Michael Cooper was a British photographer who is remembered for his photographs of leading rock musicians of the 1960s and early 1970s, most notably the many photos he took of The Rolling Stones
in the mid-1960s.
His best known work is the cover photography for the 1967 LP Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
. The "Welcome the Rolling Stones, Good Guys" sweatshirt worn by the "little girl" figure on the far right of the photo (actually a cloth figure of Shirley Temple
) was provided by Cooper's young son Adam, the product of his marriage to Rose, his muse and model. Cooper also took the 3-D cover photograph for the Rolling Stones 1967 LP Their Satanic Majesties Request
.
In 1964 Cooper met London art dealer Robert Fraser, through whom he was introduced to leading figures in music, art and literature, including The Beatles
, The Rolling Stones
(the rock band he worked most closely with), Marianne Faithfull
, Eric Clapton
, artists Francis Bacon
, Andy Warhol
, Peter Blake
and David Hockney
and writers William S. Burroughs
, Jean Genet
, Terry Southern
and Allen Ginsberg
.
Cooper was one of those present at Keith Richards
' house, "Redlands", in Sussex, when a party being held there was raided by police in the late afternoon of 12 February, 1967, leading to drugs charges being laid against Richards, Mick Jagger
and Robert Fraser.
Cooper loaned Terry Southern a copy of Anthony Burgess
' A Clockwork Orange
in 1967 and they collaborated on the first film adaptation of the novel, which Cooper intended to direct, with Mick Jagger
as Alex and the other members of The Rolling Stones as Alex's gang of droogs. The project was eventually shelved after the screenplay was returned (unread) by Britain's Lord Chamberlain
, with a note indicating that he would not allow the film to be made because it dealt with "youthful incitement". Southern later recommended the book to his friend Stanley Kubrick
after Kubrick's planned film on Napoleon was rejected by MGM.
Cooper died in 1973 from a heroin overdose.
A lavish book of Cooper's photography, Blinds and Shutters, edited by Perry Richarson, was published in a limited edition in 1989. A retrospective exhibition of his photography with the same title was held at the Atlas Gallery, London in September–October 2003.
Cooper's photographs also feature in the book Michael Cooper: You Are Here – The London Sixties, edited by Robin Muir (Schirmer/Mosel, 1999) and in the book The Early Stones, also edited by Perry Richardson.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
in the mid-1960s.
His best known work is the cover photography for the 1967 LP Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. The "Welcome the Rolling Stones, Good Guys" sweatshirt worn by the "little girl" figure on the far right of the photo (actually a cloth figure of Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
) was provided by Cooper's young son Adam, the product of his marriage to Rose, his muse and model. Cooper also took the 3-D cover photograph for the Rolling Stones 1967 LP Their Satanic Majesties Request
Their Satanic Majesties Request
Their Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth British and eighth American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 8 December 1967 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by London Records...
.
In 1964 Cooper met London art dealer Robert Fraser, through whom he was introduced to leading figures in music, art and literature, including The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
(the rock band he worked most closely with), Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, artists Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Peter Blake
Peter Blake (artist)
Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
and David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
and writers William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
, Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
, Terry Southern
Terry Southern
Terry Southern was an American author, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style...
and Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
.
Cooper was one of those present at Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
' house, "Redlands", in Sussex, when a party being held there was raided by police in the late afternoon of 12 February, 1967, leading to drugs charges being laid against Richards, Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Robert Fraser.
Cooper loaned Terry Southern a copy of Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
' A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
in 1967 and they collaborated on the first film adaptation of the novel, which Cooper intended to direct, with Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
as Alex and the other members of The Rolling Stones as Alex's gang of droogs. The project was eventually shelved after the screenplay was returned (unread) by Britain's Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
, with a note indicating that he would not allow the film to be made because it dealt with "youthful incitement". Southern later recommended the book to his friend Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
after Kubrick's planned film on Napoleon was rejected by MGM.
Cooper died in 1973 from a heroin overdose.
A lavish book of Cooper's photography, Blinds and Shutters, edited by Perry Richarson, was published in a limited edition in 1989. A retrospective exhibition of his photography with the same title was held at the Atlas Gallery, London in September–October 2003.
Cooper's photographs also feature in the book Michael Cooper: You Are Here – The London Sixties, edited by Robin Muir (Schirmer/Mosel, 1999) and in the book The Early Stones, also edited by Perry Richardson.