Tony Mott
| Tony Mott | |
|---|---|
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| Born | April 1956 Sheffield, England |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Known for | Australia's premier Rock 'n' Roll photographer; Official photographer for "Big Day Out" music festival |
| Spouse(s) | Libby Sharpe (married 2008) |
| Children | 2 |
Tony Mott (born Anthony Moulds, April 1956) is an English-born rock and music photographer, and Australian resident. In a career spanning more than 30 years his photographs have appeared in local and international magazines, newspapers, and album covers. Mott is recognised as Australia's premier rock photographer and a leading worldwide exponent of the craft.
Tony Mott was born Anthony Moulds in April 1956, child of Brian and Mary Moulds, and raised in Sheffield, England. He was a student at Jordanthorpre Comprehensive secondary school, and trained as a chef at Sheffield Polytechnic before arriving in Australia in 1976.
Mott trained as a French and pastry chef and spent 10 years working in hotels in the United Kingdom and in Australia.
He worked for six months as a chef in Sydney at the Opera House and at the Gazebo Hotel in Kings Cross in 1976, before helping establish a restaurant in Armidale, New South Wales. Mott then returned to England because of a limited working visa.
Mott then worked as a chef aboard the cruise ship SS Oriana for two years, visiting more than 60 countries and developing an interest in travel and photography. Returning to Sydney, he decided to settle in Australia permanently in 1981. Whilst resuming work as a chef at the Gazebo Hotel in Kings Cross, Mott pursued his love of music, exploring Sydney's live music scene in the evenings.
Mott's interest in photography began in Sheffield, where he learnt basic black-and-white developing skills and explored an interest in social documentary photography whilst working as a chef. Pennie Smith, a London-based photographer who worked for music magazine NME, was an early influence.
Mott's career as a rock 'n roll photographer began in 1983 at the Piccadilly Hotel in Kings Cross. Mott went to see the Sydney band the Divinyls on Monday nights at the hotel and began photographing the band's lead singer Chrissy Amphlett. Band manager Vince Lovegrove chose one of Mott's photographs as a tour poster and from 1983 bands began approaching Mott to shoot their gigs. Mott went on to document the Sydney music scene of the 1980s and 1990s when the city and suburbs were full of live venues and had a flourishing record industry.
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