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Kevin Cummins was an art and design student in Manchester when he started photographing local bands in the 70s. He went on to become one of the country's most revered music and portrait photographers. This month, he joins dozens of creatives from Manchester and beyond in The Tony Wilson Experience.
Born in Withington, South Manchester, in 1953, Cummins discovered his twin passions, music and football, early on in life. A diehard Manchester City fan, he remembers his father telling him as a kid that the only job he'd ever be qualified to do was be a disc jockey at Maine Road.
Thankfully for Manchester he did not quite fulfil his dad's prophecy. Instead, he followed another route; one that would ultimately make him perhaps the greatest visual chronicler of the Madchester music scene.
One could say that Cummins' interest in photography was genetic - both his father and grandfather were keen amateurs and both had darkrooms in their homes. And there were certainly perks to posing as a photographer back in the 70s.
"I suppose initially I did it because it was a good way of getting into gigs," he explains.
"I studied photography and in those days there were no photo passes; it wasn't as heavily restricted as it is today. So if there was a gig I wanted to go to I used to take my college camera case and people thought I was from the Manchester Evening News and just waved me in.
"I wanted to do photography but wasn't sure which area to work in and I couldn't really understand how you could earn a living from it."
Cummins does not remember much careers advice being handed out in his day, but he does remember being in the right place at the right time. When Manchester bands started to make headlines around the world, he was ideally placed to document the city's finest music hour.
He became the chief photographer for New Musical Express (NME), where his award-winning pictures of Manchester bands contributed to the rise of the Madchester and Cool Britannia scenes.
Perhaps his most talked-about photographs are those of Joy Division, which have recently been published in a book entitled Juvenes. His iconic portraits of the band's frontman, the late Ian Curtis, helped to immortalise him around the world.
But although he still works with musicians and other artists, he says he rarely covers live gigs these days.
"It's not worth it. There are too many restrictions imposed on photographers and there are too many people elbowing for space at the front. The only time I do it is when I'm working with a band on tour because then I'm not restricted to the first two or three numbers.
"I just find the whole situation preposterous really," he continues, warming to his subject. "It's an American idea imposed by band management about 15 years ago and it's become the industry standard. It reached the point where last year, when I went to see Morrissey in Rome, a photographer from an Italian newspaper was arguing about whether she should be allowed 20 or 30 seconds. She travelled from Milan to Rome to get 20 or 30 seconds of a live show. Meanwhile kids in the audience are shooting on their mobile phones and digital cameras and yet professionals can't do their job.
"And often you are presented with a four or five-page contract about ten seconds before you are due to start working and you are expected to sign all your rights away."
According to Cummins, these new restrictions are making it more difficult for young photographers to get a break in the industry.
"There seem to be a lot more people who want to shoot music now because I think they see it as glamorous. But it's very difficult to earn a living shooting live stuff."
Two hundred young people will get the chance to hear more from Cummins about what it is like being a music photographer, during Manchester's 24-hour memorial event for Tony Wilson this month.
The photographer, who went to the same school as the late music mogul, says Wilson was the catalyst for Manchester's incredible transformation.
"Suddenly, after his death, people have realised that there is a huge hole there that nobody can fill."
Reification: The Tony Wilson Experience aims to fill the gap by inspiring the next generation of Mancunian cultural innovators. Cummins will be joined by many of Wilson's friends in a marathon conversation and debate in front of an audience of young talented people at Urbis on June 21. For more information visit www.tonywilsonexperience.com.