Bryan Adams’s “Hear the World” photo exhibit features black-and-white shots of Mick Jagger, Amy Winehouse, Placido Domingo and other famous singers cupping their ears in a listening pose.

The 48-year-old Canadian singer, who rocketed to fame with his 1984 album “Reckless” is helping raise money and awareness for the problem of hearing loss. The photos, on display in New York’s Meatpacking District until Thursday before moving to Berlin and Zurich, will be auctioned online after the exhibition ends, with the proceeds going to the Hear the World Foundation.

Adams, still boyish-looking with short sandy hair and a svelte runner’s physique, also is touring the U.S. this month to promote his new album “11” He recently spoke with Bloomberg’s Paul Goguen at the New York exhibit, held in a loft at 413-415 W. 14th St.

Goguen: How did you get interested in hearing loss?

Adams: Hearing is so crucial to a musician. Most people give a lot attention to their eyes or other parts of their anatomy, but there’s not a lot of attention to hearing. In fact, there are people who didn’t want to do this because they feel hearing is sort of attached to the elderly. But in fact, it affects people of all ages. We want to break down the stigma.

Goguen: Was it difficult making the transition from recording artist to photography?

Adams: I don’t really think about crossing borders or boundaries. I just think about making music and I think about making pictures.

Queen Elizabeth

Goguen: I understand one of your photos was made into a Canadian stamp. How did that happen?

Adams: I did some portraits of Queen Elizabeth II on her Golden Jubilee. The Canadian post office got a copy of some of the photographs and chose one for a stamp.

Goguen: You enjoyed tremendous success in the 1980s as a recording artist. What was it like to get so much attention at such a young age?

Adams: It was a really exciting time and I’ve got great memories of watching it all take off. A friend of mine told me, “I’d really like to be you except for the first 25 years.” But actually the first 25 years were really exciting.

Goguen: “Reckless” was No. 1 on the Billboard charts and produced six hit singles, including “Heaven” and “Summer of ‘69.” What made it such a success?

Adams: It was like catching a wave. I had three albums before then and each one built a little following. By the time “Reckless” came out, there was a lot of anticipation. And we just hit the right chord; that’s all there was to it.

Goguen: You are promoting your new album with a series of acoustic concerts. Why acoustic?

Adams: Because it was easier to move a small army of me than a large army of my band. It’s purely for the sake of quickness.

Source: Bloomberg : Interview by Paul Goguen

Filed under: General News

ShareThis   |    Print This Article

Comment:

1. amrita Says:
   May 16th, 2008 at 11:41 am

   This dude rocks and he also has a heart of gold. LOVE him !

Leave your comment