"I’m also a photographer" – Andy Summers and the release of Can’t Stand Losing You

In a week that sees a Valentine’s Day U.S release for Andy Summers’ Can’t Stand Losing You, the film based on Police guitarists’ best-selling memoir One Train Later (we in the UK have to wait until 20^th March), it is also worth remembering that Summers is also a very accomplished photographer in his own right. Remember? You didn’t know in the first place? Well, that’s ok as the phrase “don’t give up your daytime job” seems to be invented for people who become renowned in one area, and because of that are given free reign in another: musicians who think they can act (remember Rihanna’s star-making turn in Battleship? Me neither) and worse still, actors who think they should sing (there are exceptions of course: people as disparate as Peter Falk and Derren Brown are also gifted painters). So upon hearing that a musician has been taking photographs, you’d be forgiven for thinking they’re not necessarily going to be world-beating.

 

Happily, Summers’ work stands apart from his record-breaking time with The Police. In fact, had he not answered Steward Copeland’s ad, he quite possibly could’ve become a bigger name in the photography world without the baggage of being “a rock guy” as well. I came across his work by being a fan of The Police, and enjoying his back-stage shots and candid moments in the studio, but very quickly discovered that there was more to them (and my interest in them) than that, and a keen eye for composition and drama was evident in all of his work, as well as evidence of inspiration from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Ralph Gibson and even Edward Hopper.

 
He exclusively used B&W 35mm film (generally favouring a high contrast printing style), and all the rock-band-on-tour clichés are captured, with a much greater sense of intimacy. The self-portrait above for example couldn’t have been taken by a Jill Furmanovsky or a Mick Rock, because the trademark Police grins would come out, and as a result Summers’ Police world is vastly different than the Technicolor blond hair shots we’re used to seeing.
  

All bands now have a behind-the-scenes photographer, and we know what to expect. Summers captures those moments of wiping a post-gig brow with a towel, and an over-flowing craft service table, but includes the moments that any sensible editor wouldn’t: behind all the grinning fans, there’s promiscuity, which while it’s makes for a beautiful photograph, Summers cynically highlights the shallow nature of that relationship, while still indulging.

There’s also drug use, and the jet set myth-busting moments of looking miserable in airports (as well as an abundance of shots on buses, and later, their own private plane), and a notable absence of forced mugging and joshing, which is the staple of band shots when taken by an outsider.
 In the film, Summers shares memories and photos from the band’s career, leading up to their much-hyped 2007 reunion tour. Even those of us that don’t own any of the music, we all know the words to Roxanne when it still regularly pops up on the radio, and we all know the ironic misconception behind the lyrics to Every Breath You Take, so whether you are a casual or die-hard fan, prepare to have another world opened up to you in the form of Andy Summers’ photography, and perhaps never again will you be cynically sceptical when you hear that a musician is also a photographer.