Michael Putland (1947-2019)

We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our good friend, acclaimed British photographer Michael Putland.

We have been working with Michael from the very earliest days of the gallery, hosting a retrospective exhibition with him in Birmingham in 2005, and later an exhibition of his triptychs in London in 2011.

He was one of life’s gentleman – warm, generous, unassuming, with no trace of ego, and someone whom I counted as a true friend alongside our business relationship.

Michael once told me that he didn’t have a day off in the seventies. Looking back, there’s just no other way he could have assembled a photographic archive of such immense breadth and depth. Michael started photographing musicians in the mid sixties. He really hit his stride in the seventies and by the mid-eighties he had captured pretty much everyone of significance in the music business over the course of a twenty year career.

Posthumous limited editions now available to purchase

I am delighted that his widow Sophie has decided to offer posthumous limited editions of Michael’s work.

The contact sheet prints and single images shown below are the first posthumous releases from the Michael Putland Archive, produced in a choice of paper sizes, each one made to order under Sophie’s personal supervision to the highest standards that Michael always worked to. Each photograph is embossed with the official stamp of the Michael Putland Archive, numbered, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Sophie Putland.

The contact sheets are available on 16 x 20 and 20 x 24 inch paper. The single frames shown below are available to order now in sizes from 12 x 16 inch to 30 x 40 inch paper.

Michael’s archive is renowned for its breadth and depth, and we will be updating the gallery website with a large selection of individual images that are available to order over the coming weeks.

Bob Marley, Mick Jagger and Peter Tosh contact sheet, NYC, 1978

Bob Marley, Mick Jagger and Peter Tosh, NYC, 1978

Mick and Bianca Jagger asleep on plane, Berlin 1973

The Rolling Stones video shoot for ‘It’s Only Rock n’ Roll (But I Like It) (1974)

David Bowie, Haddon Hall, 1972

Tom Waits contact sheet, Portobello Road, London (1976)

Tom Waits, crossing Portobello Road, London (1976)

Elton John on the pitch at Vicarage Road, Watford, April 1974