Public Enemy, Hyde Park, London, England (November 2, 1987) by David Corio
"Making portraits of people you are in awe of, people like Anthony Burgess and James Brown, Robert Altman... There was something, like an energy from doing that sort of work."
– David Corio
Nina Simone, Ronnie Scott's, London, UK, 1984 by David Corio
Elliott Gallery is thrilled to host ‘Framing the Beat’, a retrospective exhibition of Music Photography by David Corio, opening in October 2023.
From Hip-Hop to Punk Rock and from powerful concert shots to intimate portraits, David has captured some of the most influential and iconic musicians of the last forty five years. Public Enemy, Nina Simone, Bob Marley, B.B. King, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, The Cure, Run DMC, Grace Jones… just to name a few! His personal notes of each shoot offer a brilliant and deep insight of his subjects and his experience with them as well.
Initially as a freelance photographer, David started his career in the early days of the Punk Rock movement in London. In those early days, he would go to gigs around the city taking photos, which he would then have to turn around and print for the next morning. Soon enough, his extraordinary talent and skill caught the attention of publications and media, ultimately leading him to work as a commissioned photographer.
His work is featured on more than 500 record sleeves and is published in various magazines and newspapers. NME, The Face, Time Out, Black Echoes, the Daily Telegraph, New York Times, Rolling Stone and Mojo are only some of them.
Bob Marley, Last London show, Crystal Palace Bowl, London, UK, 1980 by David Corio
“I first started taking photographs probably when I was 5 years old. I remember seeing my granddad printing in a dark room he built under the stairs at his house. He was just doing contact prints, but there was something really exciting about seeing these little 2-inch square prints develop. And that hasn’t left me... The whole getting into a dark room is still something exciting, about seeing a print appear – particularly if it comes out well! That can be really exhilarating!”
– David Corio