A new exhibition has opened at the Barbican’s music library looking at the art of photographing a music concert.

Ranging from Pete Townshend’s guitar flying through the air at Madison Square Garden and Liam and Noel Gallagher photographed during the making of the Wonderwall video, the exhibition ranges across 70 years of music photography.

What lifts the exhibition from simply a collection of photos to look at though are the captions, which give background details about many of the photos, giving you a glimpse behind the curtain as to how they came to be.

With most photographers having to work with a moving event, a lot of the photos are unexpected moments caught by a photographer crouched somewhere uncomfortable on stage, or working behind the scenes trying to record events without intruding.

There’s the story of how a photo of Nick Cave in Brazil nearly didn’t happen because the posh bar wouldn’t let the photographer in wearing shorts so he had to run to a shop to buy a pair of trousers, how a photo of Debbie Harry was nearly cancelled when she didn’t like her hair.

A photo of the Sex Pistols is possibly funnier thanks to the list of people in the audience – Rat Scabies, Nipple Erectors and Snivelling Shits, and it turns out that the famous Bohemian Rapsody cover was just one of many versions taken that day.

There’s quite a lot to see here, from the photos on the walls to several cases filled with music memorabilia chosen for the photoshoots often used to produce them. It’s fairly rare for an exhibition to have the thoughts of the artist expressed, so this is quite an interesting exploration of what makes a good music photograph.

The exhibition, In The Moment: The Art of Music Photography which celebrates the 25th anniversary of Rockarchive is at the Barbican Music Library until 25th September 2023 and is free to visit.

The opening hours are:

• Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9.30am-5.30pm
• Tuesdays & Thursdays 9.30am-7.30pm
• Saturdays 9.30am-4pm
• Sundays – closed