These are a few of the things you learn in a new documentary about Rock calledShot!

The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock, directed by Barnaby Clay.

(Oddly, our interview also took place on the day Prince had died suddenly.)

I think Barney was the connection toViceand they came on board and put more money in.

The actual start of filming was probably four years ago this summer.

People are fascinated by Syd Barrett, possibly because theres not much out there on him.

Rock also has some little seen, relatively recent photos of Bowie.

Im probably going to do a book of this session, because I have tons of material.

I also have video of the session.

Anything of David Bowie is going to get some interest going.

I recorded a lot of them, because I would do interviews back then, he explained.

They were all based on interviews.

We did all those crazy TV sets and I stayed up for days with him.

Theres a great session where Lou talks about the song Heroin and of course,Viceflipped out over that.

Barney had to ease them off a bit, so not too much of it is used.

Ive also spent a lot of time in Japan doing kabuki theater books.

But they didnt have a lot of oversight.

Nobody thought photographs were worth that much.

What was a rock n roll photographer?

Even compared to cooks, there are not as many well-known photographers as there are cooks.

That will slow down people nicking your pictures, and I do it consistently nowadays.

What do you mean intellectual property?

Of course now I realize they are, because one photograph can sell for a lot of money nowadays.

You want to use my pictures, I want that fucking copyright.

Otherwise, go away.

He would talk about bringing actors into a raw space and building the circle of concentration, he says.

When that happened, other things took over and things happened spontaneously.

I just process the images through me, but Ill see very clearly.

I approach it a little loosely, he continues.

You have to decide where to shoot for whatever the circumstances are.

You have to be like a cook.

You gotta get all the ingredients in the room, but its really about stirring.

I play around with different lights and set-ups.

I dont do anything thats complicated.

Mostly I work with one assistant, sometimes I work with two.

Rarely have I worked with three, but I have a make-up artist, sometimes a stylist.

I have my videographer, he records everything, but I dont need a lot of people around.

In fact, they get in the fucking way.

I think its unnecessary.

I think it constricts the session if you have too many people around.

Makes it too self-conscious.

I like to loosen things up a bit.

I pick somebody that I want to shoot.

I go in and love them.

I dont think about it like that.

If I shoot them, it could be for moneyoften is.

I dont shoot that much for magazines.

Theyre messy to deal with and they dont want to pay for anything.

Its a different world today, totally different, plus theres all that digital stuff.

I spend a lot of time dealing with exhibitions and licensing, and Ive done a ton of books.

(In case you were wondering, even Mick Rock doesnt shoot his pictures using film anymore.)

Theres no point and there are so many people shooting and so many pictures.

Its a different time for pictures.

Bowie as Ziggy Stardust is a goldmine.

It led to him having three heart attacks, and eventually, a quadruple bypass that saved his life.

This hovers over the entire movie as Clay recreates Rocks most harrowing experience.

People say, Was it difficult for you (to stop)?

No, it wasnt difficult for me to stop.

I got the message.

It certainly cleared my head out, and I got much better about business.

Also, Tim Curry is in it.

Learning to juggle the past and the present has been interesting in recent years.

Some old fucking burn-out, who is just hanging out, drooling and jibbering?