Philip Townsend



The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Archival pigment print 

56X61 cm

1963

Edition of 50

This piece was exhibited in a solo show of Phillip in Minotaure gallery Tel Aviv in 2013



The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Archival pigment print 

56X61 cm

1963

Edition of 50

This piece was exhibited in a solo show of Phillip in Minotaure gallery Tel Aviv in 2013



The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Archival pigment print 

56X61 cm

1963

Edition of 50

This piece was exhibited in a solo show of Phillip in Minotaure gallery Tel Aviv in 2013



The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Archival pigment print 

56X61 cm

1963

Edition of 50

This piece was exhibited in a solo show of Phillip in Minotaure gallery Tel Aviv in 2013



The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Archival pigment print 

70X95 cm

1963

Edition of 25

This piece was exhibited in a solo show of Phillip in Minotaure gallery Tel Aviv in 2013



The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Archival pigment print 

70X95 cm

1963

Edition of 25

This piece was exhibited in a solo show of Phillip in Minotaure gallery Tel Aviv in 2013



The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Archival pigment print 

70X95 cm

1963

Edition of 25

This piece was exhibited in a solo show of Phillip in Minotaure gallery Tel Aviv in 2013



John Lennon & George Harrison

John Lennon & George Harrison

C print

40X50 cm

Edition of 50



The Beatles & The Maharishi Yogi

The Beatles & The Maharishi Yogi

C print

70X94 cm

Edition of 25




Philip Townsend

Picture The Sixties

By Roger Eldridge

As the Sixties swung and Britain subverted the old order, photographer Philip Townsend was there to record all the prime people of the time, beautiful and ugly alike: the debs and their beaux, louche lords and club owners, press barons and business moguls, stars and socialites, artists and creatives, royals and ruffians, and above all the new aristocrats of pop and rock, spearheaded by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. And he documented the peacock gear they wore, the sleek cars they drove, and the aeroplanes that flew them to fresh horizons.

Remarkably, Townsend's entire photographic career exactly spanned that most remarkable of decades, when London was the coolest of capital cities: he took his first serious pictures in 1960 then, in 1970, he put away his cameras for good and casually consigned his pictures to a cupboard. When he looked at them seriously a few years ago, he found a half-forgotten treasure trove, a time capsule that vividly resurrects those photogenic times. The rescued works are now sought by magazines and newspapers throughout the world, by galleries like the National Portrait Gallery, and by collectors. The reason is simple: Philip Townsend's pictures are the Sixties.

While other photographers took portraits, often closely cropped, Townsend instinctively widened his frame to include backgrounds, landscapes and the sheer feel of the period. A fine example is his portfolio of the Rolling Stones, including their first ever picture sessions, when they were broke and hungry, without a recording contract, a band not yet on the run. Townsend bought them barbecued chickens and set about fostering the semi-delinquent image which they still cultivate today.

 

Past Exhibitions

2011
  • Minotaure Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Stefan Larsson Gallery, Uppsala
  • The Audi Exhibition, Sundsvall
  • Kulturens Hus, Luleå
  • Kings Road Chelsea, Proud Gallery, (Group Exhibition)
  • Mr Sixties, The Gallery, Arts University College Bournemouth
  • Philip Townsend Solo Show, Lowry Museum Manchester
  • The Rollling Stones with Ronnie Wood Paintings, Silver K Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2010
  • Beatles to Bowie, National Portrait Gallery, (Group Exhibition)
  • Thompsons Gallery, London
  • A Star Is Born - Photography and Rock since Elvis, Museum Folkwang, Essen Germany, (Group Exhibition)
  • Sixties Revisited, Lowndes Court, Carnaby, London
  • Royal Albert Hall, London
  • Nexus Kunst Center, Denmark
2009
  • Who Shot Rock & Roll, Brooklyn Museum, (Group Exhibition)
  • 27 Forver, Proud Gallery, Camden (Group Exhibition)
  • 'Sorry You Missed The Sixties' 29 Foubert Place, Carnaby, London WC1
  • Photographers Lounge, Swanage Dorset
  • Backstage Pass - Musuem of Art, Portland Oregon USA, (Group Exhibition)
  • Art Exchange, San Francisco USA, (Group Exhibition)
2008
  • Coningsby Gallery, London
  • Watergate Street Gallery, Chester
  • The Morrison Hotel, La Jolla, California
  • Square One Gallery, Kings Road, Chelsea.
  • Gallery LouLou, Sante Fe,USA
2007
  • Fred Segal Mauro Cafe, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles
  • The Gallery, By The Meadow Farm, Steventon, Oxfordshire
  • Morrison Hotel Gallery, New York
  • Dale Smith Gallery, Ottowa Canada
2006
  • Blue 73 Gallery, Belfast, N Ireland
  • National Portrait Gallery, Beatles on the Balcony, London (Group Exhibition)
  • VIP's Gallery, Rotterdam
  • Royal Academy, Photo London Showcase selected by Christopher Bailey, Burberry Creative Director, London (Group Exhibition)
  • Studio One Fringe Festival, Edinburgh
  • Nunnington HallL, National Trust, North Yorkshire
  • Bloxham Gallery, Battersea, London
2005
  • Interior Angle Gallery, Chelmsford
2004
  • Smudge Gallery - Spitalfields, London
  • Kick Start Visual Exhibition, Royal Arsenal, London