Kane Hibberd has spent over a decade photographing some of the world’s most iconic guitars, not as shiny museum pieces, but as instruments shaped by years of playing and personal connection. His new exhibition Scale debuts in Shoreditch at Unlocked, featuring life-sized prints of guitars owned by the likes of Paul McCartney, Joan Jett, and Tom Morello. Every image captures wear, history, and emotion etched into the wood. We caught up with Kane to talk about the stories behind the strings and what it means to bring Scale to East London.
What first inspired the idea for Scale, and how did you know it was worth committing twelve years to?
I was on tour with an Australian band called The Living End. One morning while waiting for a flight I was looking at some photos from the previous night and talking to drummer, Andy Strachan, about how cool all the rust, grime, dents and scratches looked on Chris Cheney’s old Gretsch guitar from all the years of playing it. He joked, you should do a book and well I guess the idea of documenting this detail stuck with me. For the next couple of years, the idea would pop in and out of my consciousness and I eventually came up with the concept of photographing the guitars, then printing them life size. What better way to see the detail then be able to get up close to the guitar like you were looking at the real thing.
When I started shooting for the project in 2014, I had nearly a decade of working as a photographer in the music industry so the first guitars were artists that I worked with. What I didn’t foresee was that almost every guitar I shot led to another guitar with artists and crew recommending and putting me in touch with other artists.
I didn’t plan on it taking 12 years but once I had photographed guitars from the likes of Paul McCartney, Kirk Hammett and Brian May, it was really a case of how mind blowing I could make this exhibition become. And now here we are.
How did limiting each artist to sharing just one guitar help uncover more personal or unexpected stories?
For some it was easy, they only played one guitar but for others it was a seemingly impossible task. Generally, they would narrow it down to 3 or 4 and it wasn’t until they started thinking about the guitars that one started to stand above the rest. Often it was a guitar with a connection to the past, something that they had played for so many years that it was irreplaceable. Not in monetary value but from the time they had spent playing it. 20 years of playing an instrument uniquely mould’s it into the perfect feeling and sounding guitar for them. Often the people who thought of the guitar as more of a tool to create music with, discovered they have more of a personal connection with it than they first thought.
What was your process for choosing which artists to approach, and how did you gain their trust to photograph their most prized instruments?
Before I started the project, I created a bit of a wish list. My parameters around the project was that the artist had to be living and still own the instrument. I just didn’t want to shoot a famous guitar, I wanted to shoot a working guitar that was still owned by the artist so I could talk to them about their relationship with it.
I had read a Rolling Stone 100 greatest guitarist article, I included a few artists from that, I also had a list of artists that I had photographed live and knew they had an interesting guitar. That initial list had less than 100 guitars on it. Once I started shooting, the list quickly expanded because artists would make suggestions and then I would discover even more guitars once I started researching those suggestions. It’s a deep, deep rabbit hole.
Why did you choose to keep the entire Scale project offline during its creation, and how did that decision shape the final exhibition?
When I first started I knew it was going to take some time, at least 2 or 3 years by my count back then. I always knew it was going to be an exhibition first and foremost and so I wanted people to be blown away by what I created. To walk into a room and see Paul McCartney’s Höfner next to Ian MacKaye’s SG next to Johnny Marr’s Rickenbacker next to Ed Sheeran’s Lowden next to Joan Jett’s Melody maker, well you get the idea. I almost wanted it to be overwhelming and one of the first thoughts to be, how did you do all this? The answer is patience and determination. With social media I feel like people make such a big deal about the announcement of something they are yet to even start so I wanted to go in the totally opposite direction with, Ta-dah! I’ve finished, take a look.
What impact do you hope life-sized photography has on how people emotionally connect with the instruments in the show?
There is a real physicality to the prints, they almost seem larger than life. There is something about getting lost in viewing the instrument when it’s presented in such stark surroundings. There is nothing to distract you and you can get lost in the detail. The prints capture the guitar in such a life-like way that you can really get up close and see the detail in the smallest wood grain. Even after having looked at these guitars for hours upon hours, I can still look at it with fresh eyes and discover something I had noticed before.
Can you share one of the most memorable or unexpected moments that happened while photographing these legendary guitars?
One of the hardest parts of the project living in Australia is scheduling shoots. Often, I would have one or two guitars confirmed in the country that I was heading to and then have to wing it once I was on ground. Most of the time the conversation was, let us know when you’re in town and that was as close to a confirmation as I could get. Very stressful getting on a plane not knowing if anything was even going to happen at the other end.
George Pajon Jr is a guitarist and producer who has written and toured for many years with the Black Eyed Peas. I had met him in Australia while playing with Cairo Knife Fight but hadn’t really spoken to him about the project, I was trying to play it cool! This was one of those shoots which happened on a whim, I had my travel plans changed and ended up in LA for an extra few days. I got in touch with George and told him about what I was working on and it just so happened he was in town.
I went around to his studio to photograph a lightning bolt mirrored guitar he had built for the stage which looked super cool. As I started to shoot it, we got talking about some other guitars I had shot and something must have triggered a memory because he said, I’ll be back in 15 minutes.
He left and returned with a guitar case. He haven’t opened this case since he put it in storage August 11th 2004. ‘Today’ was June 7th 2015 – over a decade later. He opened the case to reveal a burnt acoustic guitar. I can still smell the combination of singed wood and melted plastic even writing this now.
In August 2004 George was in a session with will.i.am working with Toni Braxton. She had requested a dark room to sing in, lit with candlelight. After everybody had left for the night, one of the candles caught fire to the microphone’s pop shield and burnt everything in the room. Luckily no one was hurt. George didn’t find out about it until the next morning when Will called to tell him to turn on the TV. The fire chief was on the news holding two burnt guitars! One being this acoustic.
Why did you choose Shoreditch—and specifically Unlocked—as the space to debut Scale, and what does that location mean to you creatively?
I’m from Melbourne, Australia and live adjacent to Fitzroy which is our creative hub. When we started looking for a venue in London, Shoreditch was number one on the list as it’s a place I’ve always been drawn to as a creative. It’s got style, flair but is still rough around the edges and has plenty of places still to be discovered. This is why Unlocked is a perfect venue. Scale has always been about bringing fine art to rock and roll, or is it rock and roll to fine art? Either way I wanted to present it in a place that is unassuming, but once you get inside you, it has a brutality about it that is still comforting. The perfect place to let all your focus be on the art. I also hear Scale is being presented in a building that the neighbors include Not To Scale – a film and animation company which is the yin and yang we all need in our lives.
What do you hope visitors feel or take away after walking through Scale, beyond the visual appreciation of guitars?
I know guitar fans will love this exhibition. Being able to get up close to these legendary guitars and see every dent, scratch and fingerprint is a dream. For me though it’s people who don’t play an instrument who I really think will get something unique out of it.
If you play an instrument, you already know the relationship that comes with your instrument and creating music. If you’re not familiar with that relationship though, you may never have thought, Why does Brian May play a homemade guitar when he could play any guitar in the world? Why does Tom Morello play a guitar that he could never get it to sound how he wanted it to so then he just had to work with what he had. Or why does Joan Jett play the same beaten up old guitar when she could play a brand new one?
After listening to each artist share stories about their instrument, I really hope music fans can take away a new insight into their favorite player so that next time they’re listening to them or watching them perform, they might just listen a little differently.
xxx
Scale: A Photographic Exhibition by Kane Hibberd
12 June – 31 August | Unlocked Shoreditch
118 Curtain Rd, LONDON, EC2A 3AY
