Pennie Smith
Photographer
Pennie Smith is a British photographer, known for shooting punk bands in the 70s and 80s. Smith attended Twickenham Art School in the late 1960s, studying graphics and fine art. She collaborated with graphic designer Barney Bubbles and music journalist Nick Kent in producing Frendz magazine from 1969 to 1972. Her first major photographic commission was to cover a 1970s Led Zeppelin tour. Smith went on to work at the NME as a freelance photographer, specialising in black and white, and shooting the majority of their covers, until the early 1980s when the magazine changed to colour.
In her career, Smith has photographed, amongst many others: The Rolling Stones, The Who, Iggy Pop, The Clash, The Jam, The Slits, Debbie Harry, U2, Morrissey, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Oasis, and The Strokes. She has spent years on the road with Blur, The Stone Roses and Gorillaz, shot a series of People of Note from the Notting Hill Carnival for an on-site Red Bull sponsored pop-up exhibition and collaborated with Damien Hirst and Babyshambles on the cover of the group’s 2013 album.
Smith's work has appeared on album sleeves, books and magazines too numerous to mention, and her work has been purchased by the National Portrait Gallery.
In Jan 2010 Smith's London Calling image–the cover of The Clash's album of the same name–was issued on a postage stamp by the Royal Mail.
Pennie Smith is a British photographer, known for shooting punk bands in the 70s and 80s. Smith attended Twickenham Art School in the late 1960s, studying graphics and fine art. She collaborated with graphic designer Barney Bubbles and music journalist Nick Kent in producing Frendz magazine from 1969 to 1972. Her first major photographic commission was to cover a 1970s Led Zeppelin tour. Smith went on to work at the NME as a freelance photographer, specialising in black and white, and shooting the majority of their covers, until the early 1980s when the magazine changed to colour.
In her career, Smith has photographed, amongst many others: The Rolling Stones, The Who, Iggy Pop, The Clash, The Jam, The Slits, Debbie Harry, U2, Morrissey, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Oasis, and The Strokes. She has spent years on the road with Blur, The Stone Roses and Gorillaz, shot a series of People of Note from the Notting Hill Carnival for an on-site Red Bull sponsored pop-up exhibition and collaborated with Damien Hirst and Babyshambles on the cover of the group’s 2013 album.
Smith's work has appeared on album sleeves, books and magazines too numerous to mention, and her work has been purchased by the National Portrait Gallery.
In Jan 2010 Smith's London Calling image–the cover of The Clash's album of the same name–was issued on a postage stamp by the Royal Mail.
