Born Ian Hunter Patterson on 3rd June 1939, this young boy from Oswestry, Shropshire (but raised in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire) would go on to conquer the world and influence countless musicians, not only as part of Mott The Hoople, but as a solo artist, too. Listening to his discography it’s obvious why; their anthemic quality seemed tailor made for the biggest stages, and that’s exactly where those songs took him. However, as so is often the case, a glittering career can often obscure the man behind the music, making the lens that filters fact from fiction, hazy and opaque. That’s where Ian Hunter by Ross Halfin steps in. As go-to photographer to the stars, Ross Halfin was present at many key moments, capturing Ian on stage and off, at public and private moments, and those images now get assembled to chronicle the life of one of rock music’s greatest stars.
As someone who devoured the music papers religiously, photographer Ross Halfin was as important to me as many of the musicians he documented. And just like many of the artists he snapped, Ross seemed to have his own signature style; even before you saw the picture credit, you kind of knew the shot was his; it made his style instantly recognisable in a way that other photographer’s weren’t and that made him unique in his field. However, what elevates this book above similar types of collections is the addition of various curiosities and ephemera; gig posters, flyers, ticket stubs, foreign record sleeves and newspaper clippings all serve to give a flavour of the times and frame the collection in a specific era. From 1969 to 2022, this tome runs chronologically, outlining not only the evolution of Ian Hunter the man, but the times he worked in as well.
Ross Halfin has done a great job in putting this book together, and aside from his own photographs has included those by others who will be familiar to those who digested music weeklies (such as Neil Zlowzower). Those photographs included prove the old adage correct: pictures are worth a thousand words. Look at the live shots; not only Ian and band in full flight, but also at the effect that these musicians had on the crowd, a Mott gig had an almost shamanistic quality, it’s no wonder that Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot described his live encounter with Ian Hunter as such in his introduction to this book. This tome also captures a more innocent time before PR companies would control and censor every aspect of an artists exposure in the press and it’s hard to believed pictures of Ian having a crafty cigarette or sitting on a toilet (fully clothed, I might add!) would be allowed to be taken in this day and age.
It undoubtedly helps that Ian Hunter and the various musicians in this book were undeniably photogenic, but nevertheless, Ian Hunter by Ross Halfin is a unique portrait of a unique artist.
- Ian Hunter by Ross Halfin is published by Rufus Publications (available here).
