A new photo exhibition featuring stunning life-size portraits of some of the most iconic guitars in rock history is opening in London next week

(Image credit: Scale, by Kane Hibberd)

A new photo exhibition featuring life-size images of some of the most iconic guitars in rock history will open in London next week.

Running from June 12 to August 31 at Unlocked in Shoreditch, east London, the Scale exhibition will showcase stunning high resolution front-and-back portraits of world-famous instruments taken by Australian photographer Kane Hibberd, with every chip, crack, and scratch on their bodies a visible testament to their contributions in shaping our world.

Exploring the intimate relationship between artist and instrument, Scale features portraits of 100 guitars - among them instantly recognisable instruments belonging to Paul McCartney, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, Oasis leader Noel Gallagher, Joan Jett, Dave Grohl, Slayer's Kerry King, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, Tom Morello and more - accompanied by stories of their life, their owners and the role they have played in the history of music.

Having first conceived the idea back in 2011, and travelled the world to shoot the guitars and collate their stories from their owners first-hand, Hibberd says: "This has been an incredible journey, a real labour of love. It feels like a lot of photography is now created and consumed within a short amount of time. I wanted to work on something that took years, rather than days or weeks and keep it all offline.

"The people I’ve met, the stories I’ve heard and the places I’ve wound up in has been an absolute odyssey and I’m so glad to be finally sharing it with the world. It took a long time and wasn’t easy but nothing worthwhile ever is!"

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For ticket prices, and full details of the exhibition, visit the Scale website here.

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.