Gered Mankowitz was born in London (UK) in 1946 as the first of four sons to the late English writer Wolf Mankowitz and Ann Margaret Seligman. After attending multiple schools throughout his education, Mankowitz dropped out of school at 15. His knack for photography was discovered on a school trip to the Netherlands by the famous photographer Tom Blau. He offered Gered an apprenticeship and after a few months on the job, he had worked in all the departments, and began taking assignments.
In 1962, Mankowitz began taking photos professionally in Barbados, and when he returned to London, he took a position in the Parisian fashion world, but quickly realized that that style of photography was not for him. In 1963, he broke into the music photography industry, and felt at home being able to work with artists his own age. At the end of that same year, Mankowitz opened his own studio.
After only a few months, Mankowitz began working with Marianne Faithfull and The Rolling Stones, and was asked to go on tour with The Rolling Stones. After his stint on tour, he had the opportunity to work with Jimi Hendrix, Free, Traffic, The Yardbirds, The Small Faces, Soft Machine, Slade, Gary Glitter, Suzi Quatro, Sweet, Elton John, Eurythmics, ABC, Duran Duran and Kate Bush. With Kate, his most appealing work was the promotional photography for her debut (Kate in her leotard) and for the cover of her second album, Lionheart. He still works in the music industry, and regularly works with major newspapers and magazines. Below is an amazing photo series of Kate Bush taken by Gered Mankowitz in 1979:
She looks lovely. :)
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