What’s your earliest memory of taking photos? How did you learn to take them?

My mom gave me Kodak Instamatic when I was a kid, a “point and shoot” with black and white film. I knew I wanted to be an artist from an early age. I was always drawing at home or in the art room at school. I went to a lot of museums like the National Portrait Gallery and tried to learn how to see.

How did you find your footing as a professional photographer in the music industry?

I went to college to study photography. When I came out, the punk movement was just beginning. I went to work for a weekly music newspaper called Melody Maker and was photographing two to three new punk bands every week. Bands like The Clash, Boy George, and The Specials were all happy to be featured in our weekly music paper to help sell their records.

A lot of the artists you’ve photographed were just starting their careers as musicians. How did you come to photograph artists like Salt-N-Pepa, The Police and Slick Rick, and what was your reaction to them becoming famous?

I was working for Melody Maker and taking my portfolio of photos to show art directors at record companies. One day I got a call from A&M Records asking if I wanted to photograph a new punk band called The Police. It was their first album and my first album cover. I bought a Hasselblad square format camera and we did the shoot in a tunnel in South London—no hair or makeup or stylist—just me, the band and the art director. The band became huge, and I shot two more covers for them.

Lessons from the legendary punk rock and hip-hop photographer