Bryan Adams exhibition ‘Exposed’ opens in Toruń

Bryan Adams is rare in having made it to the top in two different fields – first as a world-famous singer and songwriter, and secondly as a respected photographer. On Classic Driver, his curator Anke Degenhard reveals what makes Bryan Adams' photography so impressive.

World-famous in his own right as a musician and composer, Bryan Adams has established a formidable international reputation as a photographer over the past decade. His meteoric rise in the world of photography is owed, above all, to his rare talent for capturing a timeless elegance and subtle depths in his images that are as visually enticing as they are thought-provoking. His oeuvre to date has garnered prestigious awards and captured the imagination of gallery-goers around the world. 

The works selected for this exhibition focus on Adams’ portraits of famous personalities from the worlds of entertainment, fashion and the arts. Perhaps the best known of all his photographs, they are also among the most captivating. Conveying the ever-changing moods and trends associated with fame in our modern world, they reveal an openness between the photographer and each of his subjects – always with an ironic awareness that the photograph is a staged event and an event of self-staging. They speak to us of beauty and desire, but also of world-weariness and rebellion. The palpable sense of trust is perhaps only made possible by the fellow star and friend behind the camera. The resulting works are highly intimate and intensely enjoyable studies, with plenty to say about the nature of both celebrity and humanity.

The exhibition 'Bryan Adams – Exposed' runs until 31 January 2016 at the Contemporary Art Centre in Toruń, Poland. Fine Art Prints are available from Crossover, Hamburg. 

Photos: Sylwester Rozmiarek / Aleksander Salski

Anke Degenhard is a German curator, gallerist, arts manager and a globally respected expert in contemporary photographic art. Anke Degenhard will be reporting regularly for Classic Driver from within the world of modern photography.