Assassinated Beauty

Photographs of the Manic Street Preachers

In the early nineties, a group of disaffected and fiercely political young men from the Welsh valleys exploded onto a British music scene still in thrall to rave and acid house.It was the legendary photographer Kevin Cummins who captured James, Sean, Richey and Nicky in their most uncompromising, glam-fixated early years.

In the early nineties, a group of disaffected and fiercely political young men from the Welsh valleys exploded onto a British music scene still in thrall to rave and acid house.It was the legendary photographer Kevin Cummins who captured James, Sean, Richey and Nicky in their most uncompromising, glam-fixated early years.

Assassinated Beauty is a unique record of a band on a mission to reclaim rock and roll through literature, image and thrilling guitar pop. Working at the NME and already famous for his association with the classic images of Joy Division, The Smiths and Stone Roses, Cummins was the ideal photographer to capture the essence of a band who understood and manipulated androgynous and decadent imagery.

These photographs document the period just before the release of Generation Terrorists (1992) up to Holy Bible (1995) and the subsequent disappearance of guitarist and lyricist, Richey Edwards. A revealing mix of studio shots and never-seen-before behind-the-scenes photographs and the ultimate portrait of one of the last great British rock and roll bands.