Bent Rej’s striking photographs of a young Tom Jones, 1965
Bent Rej was never a household name in the vast world of photography, but he did rub shoulders with the biggest stars of the 1960s, capturing them at their creative zenith. While the Danish artist never expected to immerse himself in the lives of contemporary culture’s most celebrated figures, his pathway changed thanks to a chance meeting through his work as a photojournalist with the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
In 1965, Rej, who died in 2016, was assigned by the publication to cover the German leg of The Rolling Stones’ European tour. It was expected to be a routine task, but it turned out to be an unforgettable experience. The photographer built a relationship with the band, especially guitarist Brian Jones, and soon began working regularly with the group. He was invited into their inner circle, finding himself at the centre of the pop culture storm.
In a recent conversation, Rej’s daughter Ny told Far Out that her father “was very fashionable at the time. He was bold, and if he wanted something, he would get it. I think he was also [roughly] the same age as them, and they were very reachable at the time. So, I think he was just the at the right time, at the right place.”
After meeting The Rolling Stones, the doors opened for Rej, and he snapped a series of star-studded musicians, including Tom Jones, who he shot in 1965. The photoshoot took place in London where he found Jones in fine form. The Welsh singer had recently established himself thanks to his first hit single, ‘It’s Not Unusual’, which charted at number one in the United Kingdom.
This provided Rej with an interesting proposition; Jones was – as he has remained – a humble fellow from the Valleys whose life was largely separate from glossy showbiz, and yet he was also now a swaggering starlet operating in a realm of big ballads and glistening chest hair that required a certain bravura. Rej somehow had to capture both: the pub-loving young gent, and the pompadour star with a penchant for gold.
Thankfully, Rej’s knack for truly getting to know his subjects helped him to capture both at a pivotal moment. The sullen shots of Jones on a leafy London heath perfectly present his past, while the hip-shaking performance snaps display the duality behind a born performer with a grounded disposition. After all, Rej knew about digging beneath the gloss of stardom and finding the individual underneath, he had done just that with Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Faces and many more before Jones.
As Rej’s photos below show, when Jones arrived as the new kid on the block, the singer oozed cool and had charming looks to complement his powerful voice, but also a sense of sincerity that shone through.
