In 1980, one of the first music videos by the then emerging British rock trio The Police was filmed in the Tokyo subway. In the film materialthree blonde musicians – bassist/singer Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and American drummer Stewart Copeland – pose for the camera against a background of anonymous Japanese commuters, who lip-sync into walkie-talkies to their aptly chosen hit single ‘So Lonely. ”
But Summers would soon find himself on the other side of the lens as well, pursuing a passion for photography he had nurtured since his adolescence in Bournemouth, England, where he fell in love with black-and-white art films from around the world. screened at a local cinema, including early masterpieces by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Just as The Police was peaking in popularity, Summers tracked down American photographer Ralph Gibson in New York, who helped him publish his debut photo book, ‘Throb’, in 1983.
Forty years later, at the age of 81, Summers returned to Japan last month to open two exhibitions of his work at galleries in Tokyo and Kyoto run by German camera maker Leica. Both shows are based on his latest book, “A Series of Glances,” and run through July 7.
