Gered Mankowitz displayed a natural ‘eye’ for photography whilst on a school trip to Holland, and his photographs were seen by the legendary photographer Tom Blau, who offered Gered an apprenticeship at his famous photo agency, Camera Press. Over a period of several months Gered worked in all the various departments that made up Camera Press, finally moving to the studio and going on various assignments in and around London.

During 1963, Gered met and photographed the singing duo Chad and Jeremy, who had just signed with Ember records. One of these photos was used as the cover of the duo’s first album, Yesterday’s Gone, and Gered found himself working in the music industry at a time when it desperately needed new, mould breaking images. He began to work with a new generation of producers like John Barry, Shel Talmy and Chris Blackwell photographing artists who were his own age group and who felt at ease with him in a way that had not been possible with other photographers. At the end of 1963 Gered opened his first studio, at 9 Masons Yard in the heart of London’s West End. On one side was the infamous disco “The Scotch of St.James” and on the other the art gallery “Indica”, partly financed by The Beatles and where John Lennon met Yoko Ono.

Within a few months Gered had already begun to make a name for himself, and he was approached to photograph Marianne Faithfull, who had just had a big hit with As Tears Go By. Working closely with Marianne he got to know her manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham. In early 1965, Oldham asked him to photograph the Rolling Stones, who he also managed and produced. This was a major turning point in Gered’s career, because from this first session came the cover for Out of Our Heads (U.S. title December’s Children), and as a result he was asked by the Stones to go to America with them on their record breaking 1965 tour. During this 9 week (48 city) tour of the U.S. Gered photographed the Stones on stage and off, and got particularly close to Keith and Charlie. There were many adventures as Gered found himself on the road with the greatest rock band in the world at the peak of their original success. Gered continued working with the Stones as their ‘official’ photographer, producing photos for albums (Between the Buttons, Got Live If You Want It, Big Hits and several others), press and publicity, taken at home, in the recording studio, on stage and behind the scenes until 1967, when the band broke off with Oldham.

Through the Sixties, Gered continued in the music world working with Oldham at his famous Immediate label, and with many major artists including Jimi Hendrix, Free, Traffic, The Yardbirds, The Small Faces, Nice, Cat Stevens, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker, Soft Machine. Through the Seventies to this day he has continued to collaborate with artists such as Slade, Gary Glitter, Suzi Quatro, Sweet, Elton John, Wham, Paul McCartney & Wings, George Harrison, 10cc, Kate Bush, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Oasis and many others.