Roger Moore to foreword Heroes & Villains book of photographs by David Steen

We have loved them, and we have loathed them; over 100 of the world’s most emblematic characters have been brought together for the first time by photojournalist David Steen in Heroes & Villains - the latest book from leading limited edition publishing house Genesis Publications. Over a period of 50 years Steen photographed cultural icons from just about every walk of life - from the rockers (The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pete Townshend) to the rollers (Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart) to the obscure (Nureyev, Truman Capote). Sean Connery was a favourite, and Lee Marvin reportedly the most fun assignment. Steen has played his ukulele in duet with Peter Sellers; suffered mad days and nights with Oliver Reed; fished with Charlie Chaplin; was privy to the inner sanctum of Harold Macmillan’s lonely bedroom; lived with Rod Stewart in Los Angeles and celebrated in Rio with Ronnie Biggs.

This unique volume will demonstrate the amazing dynamic between Steen and his subject, allowing him to capture figures in their most diverse and natural forms. Accompanied by personal anecdotes and summarised biographies, and including a foreword by Sir Roger Moore, this book will provide a fascinating overview of some of the most influential personalities of the last century. Only 1,250 copies are being published, each hand bound to the highest quality in Italian silver paper. 350 deluxe copies in the edition are bound in silver leather and additionally signed by Sir Roger Moore. Every book is housed in a plastic box, resembling an old-fashioned slide case - reports Art Daily.

The Exhibition – 18th – 3rd June - To launch this epic collection, 42 of the most iconographic of these original prints will be showcased in a unique exhibition also entitled Heroes & Villains at Hooper’s Gallery, Clerkenwell from 18th May. The exhibition will provide a rare opportunity to purchase limited edition prints of these enigmatic characters from £400 (+VAT), and will also offer the opportunity to view copies of the book - a collector’s item in its own right.

Why the title? “The hero is the man admired for outstanding achievements,” says Steen. “The villain is the
one capable of great wickedness, but there again he could be just a loveable rogue… and I love the rogues…”

David Steen’s introduction to photography was as a 15-year-old school-leaver joining Picture Post where he had the good luck to be taken under the wing of the legendary Bert Hardy as an assistant. It was the ultimate training ground in photojournalism, and the launch pad for his career. Steen’s reunion with Picture Post after doing his National Service (as special photographer based in Egypt, covering the major trouble zones) was short-lived. The magazine was losing ground and closed. He moved to Fleet Street, first to a bright new Mirror title, Women’s Sunday Mirror, where incidentally he picked up First Prize in Encyclopaedia Britannica’s Best Picture of the Year Award for his sequence ‘Birth of the Baby’, the progress of a young woman delivering her baby under hypnosis. He was 21, the youngest ever to be awarded the prize. There followed one year as a staff photographer with the Daily Mail; Fleet Street was the hub of the world…On to freelancing, Queen Magazine, Nova, the Sunday Times Magazine, international magazines around the world, over the years covering projects as diverse as riots in Harlem to a film set in Acapulco, a battered wives’ refuge to the Queen and family at Sandringham; the hopeless, the homeless, the glitterati. Trained on the maxim “every picture tells a story”, he has focused on film stars, actors, criminals, politicians, prime ministers (numerous) and countless men, women and children going about their everyday lives. David Steen believes himself to be lucky; he thinks lucky – luck is being in the right place at the right time, having the luck to have a loving family and enduring friends and winning a three-year battle against cancer. Asked by aspiring photographers for his best advice, his stock reply is “Get up early.”

Thanks to `Ken` for the alert.

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