He credited a shot of Bowie simulating oral sex on Mick Ronson’s guitar as launching both of their careers. Rock met Bowie backstage at Birmingham Town Hall in the middle of the Ziggy Stardust tour, when the musician was still a cult act. It was at Cambridge that Rock started shooting the local music scene, befriending the local musician Syd Barrett – for whose debut solo album, The Madcap Laughs, he shot the artwork – and Mick Jagger’s younger brother, Chris. He first picked up a camera during an acid trip, although later discovered there was no film in it. He studied medieval and modern languages at Cambridge and made headlines when he was arrested for marijuana possession at university.

Michael David Rock was born in 1948 in Hammersmith. Rock also worked in film, shooting production stills for cult musicals The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the John Cameron Mitchell films Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus.

He continued to shoot throughout his life, later producing album artwork for Atlas Sound (Parallax), Black Lips (Underneath the Rainbow) and Miley Cyrus (Plastic Hearts). Photograph: J Vespa/WireImage for Peoples Revolution Mick Rock with his photo of David Bowie and