Unseen portraits of David Bowie by Masayoshi Sukita
On view until 11 October, ‘Sukita: Rare and Unseen' at Blitz Gallery, Tokyo reflects on the career of Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita, known for iconic portraits of rock music royalty, from David Bowie to Iggy Pop and Jimi Hendrix

Masayoshi Sukita - Photography
Photographer Masayoshi Sukita first met David Bowie in London, 1972. Drawn to the rapidly evolving countercultures in the West, Sukita travelled to London and New York to see what all the fuss was about.
Sukita – who at this point had never heard Bowie’s music – stumbled upon a poster for one of the musician’s shows. Ziggy Stardust had just arrived on the scene, and Sukita felt an instant affinity with his subversive approach and cinematic influences.
Top: Untitled (wearing Kansai Yamamoto costume), RCA Studio, New York, 1973. Above: Untitled, RCA Studio, New York, 1973. © 2021 Masayoshi Sukita Courtesy of ACC Art Books
Though his English was limited, Sukita managed to secure a meeting with Bowie's manager. He presented his portfolio, it went down well, and a session was arranged for the summer of 1972. Sukita went on to shoot the cover for his legendary Heroes album in 1977, and the pair began a 40-year collaboration and friendship until Bowie died in 2016.
A new exhibition, ‘Sukita: Rare & Unseen’ looks back on the photographer’s remarkable career, one which saw him shoot the great and good of rock music royalty. In London, he captured Bowie, Iggy Pop and Marc Bolan (of T. Rex). In New York, he shot the likes of Jimi Hendrix – months before the musician’s death – and hung out in Andy Warhol’s Factory.
Top: Major Jack Celliers in Tokyo, Akasaka Prince Hotel, Tokyo, 1983. Above: Untitled, RCA Studio, New York, 1973. © 2021 Masayoshi Sukita. Courtesy of ACC Art Books
The exhibition features several unpublished works created during sessions between Sukita and Bowie, alongside new insight into iconic masterworks, which often saw him clad in iconic Kansai Yamamoto garments. Now, aged 83, Sukita remains active, capturing the present crop of emerging Japanese rock artists, and photographing the streets of his home prefecture of Kyushu.
The show coincides with the international launch of the monograph, Sukita: Eternity, a full-scale retrospective of the photographer’s career which spanned documentary, fashion, advertising, film, and music, and produced some of the most striking images of pop music history.
As Bowie once summed up the experience of working with Masayoshi Sukita: ‘It's very hard for me to accept that Sukita-san has been snapping away at me since 1972, but that really is the case. I suspect that it's because whenever he's asked me to do a session, I conjure up in my mind's eye the sweet, creative and big-hearted man who has always made these potentially tedious affairs so relaxed and painless. May he click into eternity.’
New York Pop Festival, Downing Stadium, Randall’s Island, New York, 1970, by Masayoshi Sukita. Courtesy of ACC Art Books
Get It On’, (Melody Maker cover), Pelling + Cross studio, London, 1972, by Masayoshi Sukita. Courtesy of ACC Art Books
Idiot I, Harajuku Studio, Tokyo, 1977, by Masayoshi Sukita. Courtesy of ACC Art Books
Solid State Survivor album cover, Tokyo, 1979. Courtesy of ACC Art Books
Untitled, Shibuya, Tokyo, 2010, by Masayoshi Sukita. Courtesy of ACC Art Books
Untitled, Hiroshi studio, London, 1972 © 2021 Masayoshi Sukita, Courtesy of ACC Art Books
INFORMATION
‘Sukita: Rare and Unseen', until 11 October, Blitz Gallery, Tokyo, blitz-gallery.com
Sukita: Eternity, £50, published by ACC Art Books / Genkosha, accartbooks.com
ADDRESS
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
6-20-29 Shimomeguro Meguro-Ku Tokyo 153-0064
Harriet Lloyd-Smith was the Arts Editor of Wallpaper*, responsible for the art pages across digital and print, including profiles, exhibition reviews, and contemporary art collaborations. She started at Wallpaper* in 2017 and has written for leading contemporary art publications, auction houses and arts charities, and lectured on review writing and art journalism. When she’s not writing about art, she’s making her own.
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spot
Heritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
Discover midcentury treasures in Marylebone with Álvaro by Appointment
London is full of sequestered design havens, and Wallpaper* knows them all. Allow us to point you in the direction of Álvaro González’s shop window on Nottingham Place, home to a bonanza of beautiful 20th-century antiques
-
Beach chic: the all-new Citroën Ami gets an acid-tinged, open-air Buggy variant
Citroën have brought a dose of polychromatic playfulness to their new generation Ami microcar, the cult all-ages electric quadricycle that channels the spirit of the 2CV for the modern age
-
Inside Kyotographie, Japan’s world-renowned photography festival
Kyotographie 2025 embraces the theme ‘Humanity’ in Kyoto – Amah-Rose Abram reports with the highlights, from major and emerging photographers
-
The Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands on creating an electronic score for historical drama, Mussolini
Tom Rowlands has composed ‘The Way Violence Should Be’ for Sky’s eight-part, Italian-language Mussolini: Son of the Century
-
Tate Modern to host Aphex Twin listening experience
A free listening event for Aphex Twin's reissued album 'Selected Ambient Works II (Expanded Edition)' on the 25th of October
-
Björk announces Cornucopia: The Book
The photographic documentation of Björk’s otherworldly tour
-
'Anything I put out into the world, I want to be a prayer': musician Laura Marling on eschewing traditional merch for tarot-inspired prints
As Laura Marling prepares to release her eighth album, 'Patterns in Repeat', Craig McLean learns about another artistic pursuit that occupies her time
-
'She made me feel like I could, and should, be myself': SOPHIE's friends and collaborators on her enduring legacy
It's been nearly four years since boundary-breaking electronic music producer and artist, SOPHIE, tragically passed away. As fans are gifted a last, posthumous album completed by her loved ones, music critic El Hunt reflects on her remarkable legacy
-
Balenciaga Music and Italian singer Mina collaborate on wearable music
Balenciaga Music has collaborated with Italian singer and style icon Mina, which marks her first foray in working with a fashion house and launching official merchandise of any kind
-
Pharrell Williams on his new space-themed Lego set and movie
Pharrell Williams tells Wallpaper* why he is so excited about working with Lego