Health Article Blog: Lawrence Watson 'The World Is Yours' Photography Exhibition with Adidas, Redchurch Street, Shoreditch

I was invited to the launch of the Lawrence Watson Photography Exhibition by Adidas a couple of weeks ago (thank you Paola). Adidas jumped at the chance to be involved as part of their 60th Birthday celebrations- the reason being, so many musicians were wearing Adidas by chance in the shots Watson had taken over the past 25yrs of his career.

The exhibition was soooo busy on the night that I couldnt even stand back far enough from the photographs to take photos of the photos !:) (So I went back a second time and had another look around and took photos)
The first thing I on opening night as I jostled through the crowds to even gain entry to the gallery space was a huge print of LL Cool J on stage in front of a giant ghetto blaster.

I knew the picture- of course, this photo was one of my strong memories of hip hop as a kid, I just never knew that this iconic photograph was taken by Lawrence Watson. As I walked around the exhibition I recognised lots of his photographs of musicians and I realised what a prolific artist Watson is. In the early 80s Lawrence Watson took himself off to the US to capture legendary artists, LL, Run DMC, Eric B & Rakim & Public Enemy...pretty much all the music I was listening to as a kid in the UK & certainly some of the music that inspired me to be a DJ. He also and importantly snapped them all before they knew how global hip hop culture was going to become, so their is an innocence to the shots. The fact they are wearing the '3 stripes' is not due to marketing or endorsement deals, but due to artists wanting to be fly- boys & girls :) something Adidas are very proud of.

Lawrence has since gone on to photograph everyone from David Bowie to Funkadelic, Grace Jones, Ian Browne, The Ramones & Isaac Hayes.

This was one of the best and joy inspiring exhibitions I have ever been to. I could identify with all the artists, their music and the pictures were so beautifully taken! From 2 weeks ago I officially became a Lawrence Watson groupie..
www.lawrencewatsonphotography.com
ps: the book is great, I want one! fab coffee table treat