Steve Read Photographer & Filmmaker

NEW RELEASE… EMINEM The Johnie’s Diner Collection, take a scroll. Includes the now famous middle finger shot and two virtually unseen gems. The set of FIVE is now available as affordable 8X10” wall prints, hit the ‘Johnie’s Diner’ LINK IN MY BIO. So many of you have said how much you love these early shots of Em but can’t afford my darkroom gallery handmade prints, so I’ve put together this set of 8x10” giclée ink jet prints, they look amazing and they’re all hand inscribed and emboss stamped for authenticity. After the shoot I was asked to join Em back at Record Plant Studios, where to my amazement, he was working with samples from Dido’s ‘Thank You’. What we now know but I didn’t then, was that he’d begun work on his masterpiece ‘Stan’. Needless to say, an outrageously good day at the office for me!” Prints from the ‘Stan’ session are also available on this site. Eminem photographed by @steve__read

Philip Andre “Mickey” Rourke Jr., (born September 16, 1952) is one of those actors you don’t ever forget once you’ve seen him. Original portrait: The legendary photographer/filmmaker @Steve__Read 📸 Rourke broke through with Barry Levinson’s Diner (1982), playing “Boogie,” and you could feel it right away, there was something different about him. A little guarded, a little dangerous, completely watchable. The performance earned him the National Society of Film Critics Award and put him firmly on the map. Even before that, he’d caught attention in the noir classic Body Heat (1981), just a small part but people noticed. Through the early ’80s he kept building on that, with films like Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish (1983) and The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), where he really settled into that offbeat, magnetic presence. Then Adrian Lyne’s 9½ Weeks (1986), with Kim Basinger brought it all together. Rourke was cool, controlled, and the whole thing just felt… charged, intimate, damned hard to look away from. At the same time, he was doing some of his best work in Barfly (1987), opposite Faye Dunaway, and Angel Heart (1987), alongside Robert De Niro. Then he walked away. In 1991, he left acting to box, something he’d been serious about when he was younger. Not halfway, either. He really went for it. When he came back a few years later, the roles were smaller. Buffalo ’66, Get Carter, The Pledge, Man on Fire and Sin City. You’d see him pop up, and there’d still be flashes of what made him so compelling in the first place. But Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (2008) was an entirely different beast. Playing Randy “The Ram” Robinson, this aging wrestler still holding on didn’t feel like a performance so much as something personal. Rourke won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Best Actor and earned a hotly contested Oscar nomination. And since then, yeah, he’s done the bigger films, Iron Man 2, The Expendables, but that sense of someone who’s lived a life, taken some hits, and kept going… that’s always there with him.

EMINEM, a rare gelatin silver BW print, part of my show ‘Shooting Stars Pays The Rent’ currently surrounding Manchester, England. To own one, hit the link in bio. MORE AFFORDABLE collection coming later for the fans, one off collection of 5 limited edition 8x10” prints from the ‘Stan’ recordings coming later from $99. In the meantime enjoy this now iconic image of a true genius about to explode, Johnie’s Coffee Shop & Restaurant, Sept 22nd 1999. Print by the legendary ‘Boss of B&W’ Robin Bell. @robinbell27 @lucybellgallery

The great, gifted and massively groundbreaking Mike Skinner, East London, 2002. A young artist of 23 yrs, about to explode with The Streets’ debut album ‘Original Pirate Material’ to which I listen as I write, and which still stands tall to this day, in mirror of the Kestrel House tower block gracing the brilliant album sleeve. Shooting young talent this early in their career is a special opportunity, a gift, and one I’ve always embraced. You just know, you know they’re going to be great. Boxers, actors, runners and rappers, the day job may differ but their talent, belief and successes, are the same. Commissioned by my good friend @keith_e_drummond for @qmagazinemusic

EMINEM RHYME BOOK Giclee print. 50% off listed price right now! Open to lyrics to ‘If I Get Locked Up’ shot at Record Plant Recording Studios, L.A. Sept 22 1999. OWN A PIECE OF EM HISTORY! LINK IN BIO. I was there photographing his early ‘Stan’, recordings after the Johnie’s Diner shoot that morning, he clearly had plans for other amazing work that same day. Lyrics exploding off the page, it’s a beautiful thing and an important historical artifact for Rap Music! Limited edition Giclee prints are amazing and right now, they’re 50% off. This and other Em prints via my print shop. Signed by yours truly and emboss stamped, available in various sizes and prices, framed and unframed. DISCOUNT ADDED AT CHECKOUT.

My iconic EMINEM 8x10” Limited edition hand inscribed wall prints NOW available with FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE! Swipe to see all five and hit the ‘Stan’ link in my bio to purchase a piece of Eminem history. I shot EM recording his masterpiece ‘Stan’ at Record Plant Studios, Sept 22nd 1999 after our photoshoot at Johnie’s Diner, what a day that was!!.. Eminem photographed by @steve__read .

My portrait of MARTIN KEMP, pop star and actor, along with my picture of REGGIE KRAY, the ruthless East End gangster Kemp had portrayed brilliantly in ‘The Krays’. Reggie was on day release for the funeral of his twin, Ron. Both pictures were taken within walking distance of each other. The funeral cortege along Bethnal Green Road in March 1995 featured a who’s who of the gangland underworld, including older brother Charlie and former enforcers ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser, Freddie Foreman, and notorious hardman Lenny McLean. The shoot with Martin Kemp took place later at my studio just down the road in Bow, 1997, and was attended by myself, my camera, and then-wife Natalie, who could hardly contain herself, so besotted was she by his charm, charisma, and movie star looks. Fair enough, tbf; I found him to be a lovely guy: funny, modest, accommodating, etc… Martin that is, not Reggie, although there’s no shortage of respect out there for him, regardless of the line of work he was in. The prints of the funeral were sold around that time and the negatives were later lost, so I had nothing until recently when fellow photographer @jon1goddard contacted me out of the blue and offered to gift them to me; he’d bought them in an auction. Apparently, they’d spent 20 years hanging in a Spanish bar owned by a nephew of the previously mentioned Lenny McLean… What goes around comes around. I didn’t have a camera at the time so had borrowed a medium format camera from friend @martyn.goodacre renowned for his amazing music portraits over the years, including his famous Kurt Cobain portrait, Oasis etc, so thanks to him. Check out Martin’s book btw ‘WORKING FOR THE ENEMY’, Available now. All above prints, including the funeral prints and the Martin Kemp portrait, were made in the darkroom by the great @robinbell27 Limited edition prints are available on my site LINK IN BIO. If you’ve seen something out there you like and it’s not on my site, PM or email me.

SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR x PARIS 2001… My portrait of the British Indie pop icon shot on my trusty Hasselblad is currently featured on the cover of another British icon/influencer @ap_magazine Along with a pretty glorious six page feature written by @pixelclickmatty The first time my work featured in Amateur Photographer Magazine was almost 30 years ago, at the time I was an AP myself but pro Art Director, times have changed, I left the world of magazine art direction to shoot a load of portraits and films, AP magazine is still great and still the biggest selling! Issue out now in all leading magazine sellers that sell magazines e.g. WHSmith (you’ve heard of them right?). The issue also features @philpenman someone whose work I’ve been admiring lately and who has a similar career move narrative. Thanks to @keith_e_drummond and @qmagazinemusic for the commission. Sophie Ellis Bextor photographed by Steve Read. Limited edition prints available, press the link on my bio to view this and my collection from the current UK touring show called ‘Shooting Stars Pays The Rent’. More dates TBC. All pretty much shot square on my, as the @ap_magazine call it ‘Trusty Hasselblad’. @djihasselbladuk @hasselblad

Exclusive EMINEM, from my (some say) icon shoot at Johnie’s Coffee Shop & Restaurant, Sept 22nd 1999. This rarely seen portrait is now in my collection. To buy limited edition handmade darkroom prints in all sizes and prices, hit the link in my bio. SPECIAL EDITION POSTERS featuring three portraits from my Johnie’s shoot COMING SOON! Look out later this week. To my friends in the UAE… Be safe! Eminem photographed by Steve Read for @qmagazinemusic commissioned by @keith_e_drummond

EMINEM ‘STAN’ Recordings outtakes, take a swipe through my exclusive shots… Em at the desk playing around with Dido’s ‘Thank You’, The 45 King’s drum loop notes, plus munching on some popcorn with @rosenberg and no prizes for guessing who was recording in the next door studio?! From the day I photographed Em working on his masterpiece at Record Plant Studios, Sept 22, 1999. If you haven’t already seen my ‘STAN RECORDINGS’ set of Special Edition 8x10” prints for sale, you can do so by clicking the link in my bio and OWN A PIECE OF EMINEM HISTORY. If you’ve already bought the set and want any of these outtakes to add to it, please just PM me. Btw, anyone know who the engineer is in these shots? Eminem photographed by Steve Read. @rosenberg

Unseen LENNOX LEWIS. L.A. 1999… I shot this portrait of Lennox in the lead up to his second fight with Evander Holyfield in November 1999, the one he won to become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World. I was ringside for the fight too with a photo pass curtesy of Talk Magazine. Not only a great British Champion but one of the greatest the whole world has ever seen. Lennox is part of my UK touring photographic exhibition ‘Shooting Stars Pays The Rent’. Featuring Rappers, Rock ‘n’ Rollers, Movie Stars & Trailblazers. For details hit the link in my bio. Limited edition prints available to purchase, shipped worldwide. #lennoxlewis #lennoxism #mrlennoxlewis Lennox Lewis photographed by Steve Read

Another exclusive shot taken @steve__read back in 2002, a few weeks after Original Pirate Material was released. A young looking Mike scranning down his finest cuts of chicken from the big spinning stick. Kronenbourg in the other hand to wash it down with, the old can is a great sign of the era. This one was taken from a roll of film shot following on from the kebab shop scene (2nd slide) which was published in the monthly music mag Q, commissioned by @keith_e_drummond . Steve currently has a touring photographic show named ‘Shooting Stars Pays The Rent’. A print of Skinner joining the range of celebrities and will be added on the next leg of the tour. Check out his website for limited edition prints, some wicked shots on there.