Steve Pyke, MBE

.partners. 📸 @pyke.eye

@davidbyrneofficial ‘s energetic and inspired, blue gig this past Sunday @jazzfest reminded me of a session I shot of him back in 1985 at the Hyde Park Hotel in London. He turned up early and just stared at me, watching me intently as i was setting up . . . 😬 which was a little intimidating. He was quiet during the session but we made these striking blue images on my trusty @rolleiflexworld . . . which is the same was same camera (1957 2.8) I was shooting with earlier today with the soulful and gracious Mr. @pjmorton 😊🎶.

Wonderful watching the "King of New Orleans" in action yesterday @jazzfest Lil Freddie Kings still got it. He brought everyone to their feet in a packed blues tent! We had a great day with Freddie last November @bjslounge photographing for the new live album. Thanks Wacko and Ryan 👑

@charliemusselwhiteofficial is an American blues legend and central to the Chicago Blues movement of the 1960s. Charlie came over for tea with his wife Henrietta and daughter Layla earlier this week and we made some photos. Charlie closed out JazzFest first day yesterday with a stunning set backed by the @ga20band 🎶

Africa Bambaataa just passed. I met him early in my career when I photographed him at home briefly for Sounds in the Bronx. He had just released Renegades of Funk and I saw him play the Roxy later in the evening to a sell out crowd. Bambaataa defined early hip hop and the sounds that came out of the Bronx then and later.

Check the April issue of Sauvage Issue No. 002 with a QnA interview with yours truly about my work practice. Thanks Jason Lehel #@sauvage_magazine #photography #thenewyorker #williameggleston

Today, for the first time in 53 years, humans are at the Moon.🌒 Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will be the first people to see the Moon up close since Apollo 17 in 1972. @nasaartemis I spent years finding the men who went before them, and the Mission Control support and it was such a privilege and a fulfilled my boyhood dream and wonder to meet these heroes. 🌟 Glenn. Carpenter. Cooper. Borman. Anders. Schirra. Cunningham. Schweickart. Stafford. Collins. Armstrong. Aldrin. Conrad. Gordon. Bean. Worden. Duke. Cernan. To watch the documentary about my journey to photograph these incredible individuals and share in their stories and experiences, check out Moonbug by the ever talented @nicholabrucefilm — link in bio. — 1. John Glenn, Washington DC, 1999 — holding a portrait of himself by legendary LIFE magazine photographer Ralph Morse. Glenn was playful and full of life. 2. Richard F. Gordon Jr. at Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, 1998 — Apollo 12 astronaut, we went to view an exhibit at Griffith which was a real treat. I learned so much about what an experience of that magnitude could be like and enormity of the impact it leaves with you. 3. Rusty Schweickart, San Francisco, 1998-An American aeronautical engineer, NASA astronaut, research scientist, US Air Force fighter pilot Rusty showed me these cards he took with him with quote that had meaning and resonance that he wanted to read when he was up there. Every astronaut was allowed to take something small with them. 4. Charles D. Friedlander, San Diego, 1999-As former chief of the astronaut support office, Charlie shared a lot of the history at NASA space center with us. Here he was showing nametags of the astronauts Young, Stafford, Armstrong, Collins and Cernan.

Gerry Conlon who I met in Camden Town with Sean O Hagen in 1997. Considering what had happened to him Gerry was a beautiful, caring and sensitive man. Beaten and tortured by the Metropolitan Police on trumped up charges and framed for the Guilford Pub Bombs in 1974. Gerry at age 20 was sentenced to life. It took 15 years to overturn the conviction even though the government knew he was innocent. He was portrayed by Daniel Day Lewis in the 1993 film In The Name of The Father. #guilfordfour #maguireseven #gerryconlon #paulhill #paddyarmstrong #carolerichardson #birminghamsix #innocenceproject #michaelmansfield #irishrevolutionaries #inthenameofthefather #danieldaylewis

Lil Freddie King. Living legend and now his portrait is hanging in @ogdenmuseum as part of the permanent collection, and their new show I Am The Face. Go see some great artists in the exhibition and then pick up your copy of LFK Live at @bjlounge which just released 3/27, and celebrates his over 3 decades of holding it down at BJL. Buy it at @louisianamusicfactory or wherever you buy your records. This album features the epic Sept. 12, 2025 performance by Little Freddie and his band: Wacko Wade - Drums Robert Snow - Bass Bobby Lewis - Harmonica & Vox #LilFreddieKing #NewOrleansBlues #NOLA #OgdenMuseum #LiveAtBJs #StevePyke #VinylRecord #BluesLegend #Bywater #NewOrleans #SupportLocalMusic #NowSpinning #BluesIsAlive

Slick Rick photographed in New York City in 1988. This photograph recently came to light had sat hidden in my archive for almost 40 years. Its great to find these 'lost' sessions. We met at Def Jam records on Elizabeth St. Slick Rick had just been signed for his debut solo album and I was photographing him for the NME. He was full of energy and wisecracks and suggestions for locations...these two images were made in the back room there of a small office that was covered in posters of DJ acts. Remember The Beastie Boys were there in another room making noise. #slickrick #defjamrecordings #hiphop #hiphopphotomuseum #nmemagazine #musicphotography #portraitphotography

The Skinny Boys a hip hop group from Connecticut. I photographed the boys in Central Park and also in East Harlem where Keith Haring had only the week before unveiled his classic Crack Is Wack mural. NYC 1986 #nyc1980 #hiphop #theskinnyboys #keithharing #stevepyke #crackiswack #nme #hiphopphotomuseum

Excited that my new book Scribendi Irish Writers 1985-2025 published by Lilliput Press, is released in America today and available through Amazon here: 😮 /Scribendi-Writers-1982-2025-Steve-Pyke/dp/1843519488 🧐Signed copies an merch available at stevepykestudio.bigcartel.com #stevepyke #scribendi #lilliputpress #irish writers #irishliterature #photography #photomuseumireland #photobooks #pyke.eye