Pete Doherty, Debbie Harry, Jarvis Cocker and more through the lens of Rankin
This week’s featured photographer is the eminent John Rankin Waddell, who opts for the punchy and impactful mononym, Rankin. At age ten, the Glasgow-born creative moved to Yorkshire with his family but eventually relocated to St. Albans, Hertfordshire, where he studied at Beaumont School.
Unlike many of his peers in the creative arts, Rankin began his post-school aspirations in perhaps the least creative industry that exists. Following a brief spell as a hospital porter at age 20, Rankin enrolled at Brighton Polytechnic to study accounting and finance. Fortunately for everyone, he dropped out after a few mind-numbing lectures to pursue a more vivid and inspiring dream.
In his early 20s, Rankin took a BTech photography course at Barnfield College in Luton and later a BA course at the London College of Printing. Rankin ultimately failed to emerge from his academic life with a degree, but it seemed if he was to be successful, it would have to be self-cultivated.
“When I was younger, there was a lot of imposter syndrome going on – I’m not from a creative background or family, and think there’s an element of front required to fit in,” Rankin reflected in a 2022 interview with A Collected Man. “And it’s a massive part of me being working-class Scottish. My dad would say I was born a contrarian, with that chip on [my] shoulder, in Glasgow.”
“But I think there’s an element of that just being the way you were there – you pushed at everything, you’d be inquisitive,” he continued. “I push at social rules – I just can’t help myself – and my parents really encouraged that confidence to say ‘no’. Still, even now, I feel a bit uncomfortable at a fashion show and that whole idea of judging people by their clothes. As a photographer, I have to do the aesthetic thing fairly quickly so I can get through to the personality bit. I always wanted to get into people’s heads and have that come through in the picture.”
Later in the interview, it was acknowledged that Rankin has been described as rather supercilious within his field, especially in his early years of success. “People think I’m too expensive or that I have a really bad attitude,” Rankin said. “I listened to myself in an interview the other day and thought I still sounded cocky. But it’s more, I think that I’m confident, opinionated, and honest. That combination is something that people don’t appreciate all the time. You grow up, have a kid, break out of your own bubble, [and] just realise there’s more to the world than the little thing you’re doing. You start to see that the genius [of a successful piece of work] is to collaborate, not to dictate.”
In 1991, Rankin broke through in his career after co-founding the pioneering fashion magazine Dazed and Confused. The publication allowed Rankin a platform for his photography to be admired by a wider audience, opening doors to a stream of celebrity liaisons that has never let up.
Over the past three decades, Rankin has photographed countless models, actors, musicians, politicians and other cultural figures. Among those to have entered his studio are Mick Jagger, Scarlett Johansson, Adele, David Bowie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Queen Elizabeth II, Jarvis Cocker, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger, to name but a few.
After becoming an established photographer, Rankin also branched out into the realms of filmmaking and art direction. In these fields, he has helmed music videos for the likes of Cheryl Cole, Miley Cyrus and Nelly Furtado, directed several short movies and even produced visual art for Spectre, the 2015 James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig.
For his success, Rankin thanks his tenacious drive for creativity and likes nothing more than surrounding himself with inspiring artists in his studio. “I shoot nearly every day,” Rankin revealed in a conversation with Previiew. “Everyone says I’m a workaholic, but actually, I just love that process of coming up with an idea – wherever it comes from – and getting to the final image. That’s an amazing feeling for me. Creating imagery that you get turned on by is a drug. 98% of what I do is my own desire and hunger to create, create, create. I love it when this place [Rankin’s studio] becomes like a factory and I can see my assistants shooting, or people making films. I love being around that, and around these people expressing themselves. I never forget what a real privilege that is.”
From May 26th to September 27th this year, Rankin is set to hold an exhibition entitled ‘Zeitsprünge’ (Leaps in Time) at The Ernst Leitz Museum Wetzlar. The exhibition offers a fascinating and unexpected insight into Rankin’s exceptional oeuvre. Some of his most notable work of the past three decades will be on display.
Below, we present a small yet extraordinary sample of Rankin’s catalogue, including unique shots of Vivienne Westwood, Pete Doherty, Debbie Harry, Jarvis Cocker, Richard Ashcroft, Sam Neill and more.
