Cummins: 'I was part of myth-building'

Kevin Cummins has said that he played a part in building the myths surrounding Joy Division and the other Manchester bands he has photographed.

The legendary NME snapper also told The Quietus that he tried to get references to Manchester City football club into his photographs of Stone Roses guitarist and Manchester United fan John Squire.

Cummins said: "I was probably more conscious than the bands that I was part of their myth-making process. So, for example, I'd never release pictures of Ian Curtis smiling.

"Because that's not how I wanted them to look, and it's not how they wanted to look, and it's not how we wanted people in the rock press to perceive them."

He added: "About five years ago, I did a talk at the Cornerhouse with Tony Wilson and Bill Drummond about media manipulation. And I told them the story about how I never released pictures of Ian smiling, and how that was what I brought to the table.

"And at the end of the talk, I was approached by this girl who said, 'So... do you have any pictures of my dad smiling?'. And that was Natalie Curtis, who I'd not seen since she was a baby; I think she was on some kind of voyage of discovery trying to find out about her father's friends and so on."