The Zappa Hendrix exhibition at the Whitebank Fine Art Gallery is now over so you can't go and see the photos. Annoying! Shame! Yes - I know. So why am I writing about a gig that ended on the 15th of July you may well ask? Well, sitting here in a garden in Pangbourne, drinking Chinese tea with honey and cinnamon, enjoying the last of the summer heat, I got to thinking about the private view and Kate Moss' unexpected arrival.
The exhibition itself was conceptually brilliant: Two photographers who had been reunited with their long lost work exhibited prints of restored work together.
One of the old smudgers, Mike Berkofsky, had recently discovered his clip test from his Jimi Hendrix shoot, the negatives having been lost by staff at Rave Magazine. Damaged by moisture, the clip test was found in a lock-up in California. The other smudger, Robert Davidson, was reunited with his 'Zappa Crappa' negatives courtesy of Mark Steckler from Rockaway Records who had purchased them from the estate of Herb Cohen, Frank's manager, Cohen had commandeered the negatives back in the 60's.
So, Kate Moss shows up
I don't know what the relationship is between Robert Davidson and Kate Moss, but, she had made an effort to show up at this discreet expose of Robert and Mike's work.
At first, I thought she was just being Kate Moss: cool, knows her stuff; fan of rock 'n' roll photography, but it soon became clear that she wanted to help Robert and Mike promote their work by lending herself to the promotion of the exhibition.
Maybe the photographer, Peter Clark, invited to take photographs of the crowd attending the private view, had suggested a photograph of Kate and Robert Davidson in front of his work? Maybe it was her idea, who knows? Either way, she was happy to stand, sit and hold her dog in front of Zappa looking back at us from his white porcelain throne.
And I was happy to sit on the floor and photograph the moment on my Huawei P9 mobile phone.
I was not the only one pretending to be paparazzi
At least half a dozen of the other guests joined in. Kate took her time to look into everyone's lens, giving everyone a great shot. She knew the photographs would get passed around and in turn, they would help promote the exhibition and Robert's work.
And for that, she must be given a great deal of credit.
I don't know how many prints were sold that night or since. I think Sadie Frost bought one. I do hope that Robert and Mike did well. I'm sure they will. Robert's work is set to be featured on the National Portrait Gallery's website.
