Photo Gallery: Portraits of Keith Richards 1963-71

Was the Human Riff ever as photogenic as Mick Jagger?

share this article

The lens loved Mick. Those child-bearing lips, to use Joan Rivers’s ripe phrase, always came up a treat in photographs. Did it ever love Keith quite so much? Ever since he started creosoting himself in eyeliner and crumbling like an oxidising mummy before our very eyes, he has been the incarnation of the photogenic rock wreck. Once upon a time, though, when The Rolling Stones were at their creative zenith, the Human Riff presented a young and even ingenuous mug to the camera. A new exhibition of portraits, to coincide with the publication of his autobiography Life, shows Richards before heroin and kohl began to play merry hell with that infamous physiognomy.

Images 1-3 © Philip Townsend
Image 4 © Eddie Kramer
Images 5-8 © Michael Cooper/Raj Prem Fine Art Photography
Images 9 & 10 © Dominique Tarle

Click on the images to enlarge

 

Comments

Permalink
In my opinion, Keith is the most beautiful man I've ever seen.

Add comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

rating

0

share this article

the future of arts journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more new music

A new Renaissance at this Moroccan festival of global sounds
The very opposite of past it, this immersive offering is perfectly timed
Hardcore, ambient and everything in between
A major hurdle in the UK star's career path proves to be no barrier
Electronic music perennial returns with an hour of deep techno illbience
What happened after the heart of Buzzcocks struck out on his own
Fourth album from unique singer-songwriter is patchy but contains gold
After the death of Mimi Parker, the duo’s other half embraces all aspects of his music
Experimental rock titan on never retiring, meeting his idols and Swans’ new album
Psychedelic soft rock of staggering ambition that so, so nearly hits the brief
Nineties veterans play it safe with their latest album