Upcoming AC/DC exhibition – the work of Philip Morris

Peerless Australian Photographer Philip Morris boasts one of the most extensive personal archives of rock music images in the country. During February The Raw Gallery in South Melbourne is proud to exhibit the finest of his AC/DC collection from the 1970’s to coincide with the band’s first Australian tour in nine years.

Beginning on Tuesday the 9^th of February, two days before the band’s first Australian dates at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, this unique exhibition will showcase iconic images from throughout an era of seismic change for a band that has gone on to become one of the highest selling music groups of all time. Morris was on hand to visually record AC/DC from their first foray into their (thankfully short lived) glam phase, the signing on of Bon Scott as lead singer, their first professional promotional shots and five years later, Scott’s final Australian performance. The images will be displayed until Sunday 28^th of February.

Philip Morris has also selected eight of his most iconic AC/DC photographs to be launched exclusively through The Raw Gallery as a limited edition box set. This unique collection titled ‘Let There Be Rock’ will contain 11”x14” photographs hand printed, signed and numbered by the photographer and presented in an A3 Black portfolio box, lined with archival acid free paper and with Philip Morris’ signature embossed on the front. The ‘Let There Be Rock’ collection will be limited to an edition of 50 and the inclusive images will be part of the collection on display at the gallery.

In 1974, Morris was shooting Scene Around for ‘Go-Set’ magazine when he landed a job shooting a young Burwood band named AC/DC playing Chequers nightclub, a formerly up-market cabaret venue, now a performance space for Sydney’s burgeoning pub rock scene. Says Morris; “Most of the bands I shot in that mid-70s era were pretty serious but AC/DC were dynamic and never deadpan – they jumped around, reacting off each other.”

From then on, Philip Morris personally captured some of the best known images of Australia’s most successful band as their fame grew both domestically and overseas. He was the only photographer to shoot the group recording in Albert Studio as they produced ‘Dirty Deeds’ in 1976 and to shoot Bon Scott’s final Australian performance in 1979 – an impromptu gig to a crowd of less than 100 people in Cremorne, NSW after a set by the Ferrets. “They came on and jaws just dropped. Angus ripped his shirt off and he was up on the tables … It was unbelievable.”

These images are among the photographs available to buy through The Raw Gallery, as will be a larger than life version of the notorious ‘We Luv AC/DC’ promotional still, shot in Lavender Bay, Sydney for the band’s ‘High Voltage’ LP. According to Morris “Bon wore pink satin overalls and an extra pair of socks down his strides that day”.