Paul Cox’s music photography career took off in the late 1970’s. After studying Art at Amersham College he undertook an exciting job with London Features International. His first assignments involved getting pushed around in mosh pits taking photos of bands such as Sham 69 and The Ramones. One of his first magazine assignments was hitchhiking across France in 1977 with Hugh Cornwell of the Stranglers and a journalist, a surreal experience.
On one famous occasion travelling back from a tour in Norway with Motorhead and the crew they were all held at the airport. After some negotiations Paul then went to Hammersmith Odeon to photograph Dionne Warwick, quite a contrast. During his incredible career Paul worked as a leading music photographer and many bands aspired to work with him.
Paul’s studio in Fulham was a fantastic and legendary space to photograph bands. Paul also loved shooting on location and undertook many assignments with artists such as Echo and the Bunny Men, The Cure and Van Morrison. Over the years Paul has photographed musicians from Tina Turner, Mick Jagger to The Smiths. Paul also worked with John Frieda and Nikki Clarke for their hair brand merchandising.
Paul Cox Photography - Book Publishing
In September 2022 Moonboy Ltd, an independent publishing company, published a book on The Cure “Stills”. Forward written by Robert Smith and captioned by Paul and Robert Smith. The limited-edition photobook set (including the 256 pages book, a set of 12 individual colour photos presented in a debossed folder, one poster and 2 colour bookmarks) celebrates The Cure in their full glory through the lens of Paul. This unique deluxe volume will feature over 291 images, selected from Paul’s personal archives and overseen by Robert, covering 1980-1999.
In October 2023 Omnibus Books published a book called Simply Tina: Tina Turner Photographs by Paul Cox
This is a unique and intimate collection of Paul’s photos of Tina Turner. It contains a variety of never-before-seen images, telling the story of Tina’s career through a mixture of live photos, video shoots, promo shots, candid images and sessions in the recording studio, as well as a few featuring some such high-profile names as David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams and many more.
Simply Tina: Tina Turner Photographs on Omnibus Press website
The book will be published in North America in Spring 2024.