David Bowie photo exhibition: To be held in Rathfarnham castle

“IT started off small, taking photographs of dew drops on cobwebs, that sort of thing,” explains Denis O’Regan, famed English rock photographer, who will be returning to the 17th-century Rathfarnham Castle Gallery for an exhibition of his photos of David Bowie.

This is a part of this year’s Dublin Bowie Festival, which sees some big names come over to Dublin to celebrate the iconic Starman.

Along with Denis, other big names coming over for this festival include Gail Ann Dorsey (who also played with Lenny Kravitz, The National, Gwen Stefani, Charlie Watts, and Bryan Ferry) and Mike Garson.

Denis has photographed Bowie more than any other photographer and he has also served as an official photographer for Queen, Thin Lizzy, The Rolling Stones, and Duran Duran and was the official photographer at Live Aid, the 1985 benefit concert in the Wembley in London.

Denis fondly remembers seeing Bowie perform in London when he was 19 years old and being mesmerized by the visuals, costumes, and set.

He heard the next day Bowie was retiring the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ character and recalled “feeling like I had discovered something and then lost it the very next day.”

One of Denis’ famous photos of David Bowie

Fortunately, Bowie was not retiring altogether but rather the persona.

One year later, Denis was working to save money to travel around the world and finally got the opportunity to photograph Bowie.

Since most of his photos were “documentary,” he didn’t need to prepare much; instead, he focused on observing and anticipating the perfect moment to capture a shot, particularly during live performances.

Denis was David’s photographer for nearly 20 years, but 1983 was the year when most photos were taken, as he accompanied him on the ‘Serious Moonlight’ tour.

That year, Denis not only took photos of David performing live but also of him offstage and behind the scenes, in quieter settings away from the madness of touring.

Denis has many plans involving Bowie for 2025, including publishing a book of the photos he had taken of him over those years in July; these photos will also be on display in the ‘David Bowie Centre’ when it opens at the V & A East Storehouse in September in Hackney, East London.

For helping to organise the exhibition, Denis would like to thank all involved at the Dublin Bowie Festival, as well as Katherine, Christine, Barbara, and John at Rathfarnham Castle.

The exhibition will be available to view from February 12- March 3; don’t miss out!