Inside the Pit: Scarlet Page’s 30 Years Shooting Rock’s Biggest Stars
With his kids’ sports game waiting, Slash had barely a moment to spare for a portrait session at Hollywood’s Sunset Marquis hotel. It was enough. He “became his iconic self for the camera in moments,” photographer Scarlet Page recalls.
The portrait is one of more than 30 years of music images Page has curated for “Held: Three Decades of Artists and Their Gibson Guitars,” a new exhibition opening Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Gibson Garage London. It stays up through February 2027.
For Page, the show is the payoff of a career spent inside rock’s inner circle. She has toured with the world’s greatest rock artists for more than three decades and is one of the most prominent female rock photographers of her generation.
Her lens has followed the Foo Fighters on the road, waited in Robbie Williams’ dressing room and worked the pit at Glastonbury. Now the archive is going on the wall.
Rock Icons Under the Lens
Every image in “Held” ties back to the Gibson guitar. The collection mixes live, candid and studio moments, and Page says each shows “a different side of the artists I’ve had the privilege to photograph and their relationship with their Gibson.”
Glastonbury 2023 supplies Alex Turner, photographed as the Arctic Monkeys made their triumphant return to Worthy Farm. AC/DC’s Angus Young dates to 2003, when his band was supporting The Rolling Stones.
The Darkness picture goes back to 2004, the year Page toured with the band as its official photographer. Backstage at Royal Albert Hall, she caught Paul Weller at a Teenage Cancer Trust benefit, a cause she has backed throughout her career.
Jeff Buckley’s 1995 Pyramid Stage set, an iconic performance that defined his career, is in the show too. Page was there to capture it.
Lenny Kravitz, Jack White, Jimmy Page, Wolf Alice and Cat Stevens are also in “Held.” So are Michael Kiwanuka, Placebo’s Brian Molko and Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones.
The Cure’s Robert Smith, The Stone Roses’ John Squire and Robbie Williams appear as well. Geese’s Cameron Winter and Kiss’ Paul Stanley close out that list.
How a Rock Photographer Broke Through
Page’s career began in 1993, when her photo of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell became her first published shot. It ran on the back cover of Raw magazine and opened the door to shooting for publications.
The 1994 Lollapalooza tour came next, with live photography of the Beastie Boys and The Smashing Pumpkins. Page says it is where she “cut her teeth.”
The following year brought her breakthrough. One of her images was chosen for the cover of The Verve’s “A Northern Soul,” which became the band’s first top 20 album, a major moment for both Page and the group.
Since then, Page has enjoyed backstage access and a front-row seat to some of the greatest performers in the world. She did it in the often male-dominated world of rock.
Page says the project has been a joy. “It’s been such a pleasure delving into my archive and rediscovering these photographs,” she says.
“Now more than ever, we need live music and I hope this exhibition reminds people of the power it has to bring us together,” she adds. The show celebrates live performance and the lasting legacy of Gibson guitars.
“Held” runs at Gibson Garage London from Sept. 23 through February 2027. Doors are open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
Signed limited-edition prints are available from RedHouse Originals. They offer fans a way to own a piece of Page’s archive.
