Masayoshi Sukita

Joe Strummer of The Clash

1989

Born on May 5, 1938, in Nogata Shi, in the Fukuoka district, Japan, Masayoshi Sukita received his first camera as a present from his mother: it was a Rolleiflex which he immediately used to take a portrait of her. According to Sukita, that photo is to this day his most important one. He would later attend a photography school in Osaka, but, driven by his passion for jazz and early rock’n’roll, he found a better visual education in movie theaters in Nagasaki, watching movies with Marlon Brando, James Dean and Elvis Presley. In 1961 Sukita joined the photographic department at Daiko Advertising Inc. di Osaka. In 1965 he moved to Tokyo, beginning to shoot fashion and promotional videos for Delta Monde. In 1970 he went freelance, traveling often to New York, where he became fascinated by the Andy Warhol subculture. But Sukita's destiny would be forever changed in London when in 1972 he met and photographed Marc Bolan and T.Rex. While in London he saw David Bowie perform at the Royal Festival Hall. Bowie’s performance had a major impact on Sukita who, just a few days later, contacted Bowie's management. Bowie's official photographer, Mick Rock, gave him thumbs up, and so was born a legendary collaboration that would last over 40 years. During that period of time Sukita would shoot several album covers for Bowie, including Heroes, Tin Machine and The Next Day. “It’s very hard for me to accept that Sukita-san has been snapping away at me since 1972, but that really is the case. I suspect that it’s because whenever he’s asked me to do a session I conjure up in my mind’s eye the sweet, creative and big-hearted man who has always made these potentially tedious affairs so relaxed and painless. May he click into eternity.” – David Bowie, 2011