Photographer Steve Schapiro was invited to photograph David Bowie one afternoon in 1974. The musician showed up at 4 p.m., Schapiro recalled, and the two men worked until dawn. “From the moment Bowie arrived, we seemed to hit it off. Incredibly intelligent, calm, and filled with ideas,” Schapiro said. Bowie came prepared with several costumes, testing out new personas for the camera. “He talked a lot about Aleister Crowley, whose esoteric writings he was heavily into at the time,” Schapiro said. “When David heard that I had photographed Buster Keaton, one of his greatest heroes, we instantly became friends.” The images taken that night went on to appear on the albums Station to Station and Low, as well as on the cover of People. One outfit, a diagonally striped navy number, even appears in Bowie’s video for Lazarus. But many of the images were never published—until now. Schapiro’s photographs of the late artist, taken that night and over the course of their friendship, have been collected in a new book, Bowie, published by PowerHouse Books. A selection can be found below.
Capturing David Bowie
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Read moreAn image from a photo shoot Bowie and Schapiro did in Los Angeles in 1975. #
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Read moreFor this set of photos, Schapiro recalled “David started drawing circles on the background paper and then the Kabbalah Tree of Life diagram on the floor.” They were taken in Los Angeles in 1974. #
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Read moreLeft: “David took me by surprise when he came out in the red and white striped outfit during this 1974 photo shoot,” Schapiro said. “It was different from what we expected he would be wearing.” Right: A photo of Bowie from a 1974 Los Angeles photo shoot. #
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Read moreAn image of Bowie during a break on the set of “The Man Who Fell to Earth” in New Mexico in 1975. #
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Read moreLeft: An image from a People Magazine shoot. "We took portraits against a putrid green background,"; Schapiro said. Right: Bowie on Dick Clark's Salute to the Seventies in 1979.* #
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Read moreIn the makeup trailer for “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” Bowie puts in his cat’s eyes for a scene, in 1975, in New Mexico. #
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Read moreLeft: David relaxing at his home in Los Angeles in 1975. Right: David with cigarette on a break from filming “The Man Who Fell to Earth” in New Mexico in 1975. This became a Rolling Stone cover and a popular image. #
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Read moreSchapiro said this was one of the rare photos of Bowie out of character and one his favorites. “I particularly like his hands in this shot,” he said.*A caption in this article originally misstated when and where a photo was taken. The photo of Bowie playing guitar was taken during Dick Clark's Salute to the Seventies in 1979. #
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