The Kate Inside: Kate Bush photographed by Guido Harari 1982-1993 book review

A decade of Kate Bush, wrapped in an enormous deluxe package.

By
( )
published
The Kate Inside: Kate Bush photographed by Guido Harari book cover

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

There are coffee table books and then there are books that could be coffee tables. At 29cm by 39cm this is colossal, but with 240 full-colour pages within, rightly so. Between 1982 and 1993 Italian rock snapper Harari was one of the few non-family members the Bush clan let in to capture Kate as her artistry and profile grew. His passport was a creative relationship with Lindsay Kemp who introduced him to Bush while she promoted The Dreaming in Milan.

He worked with her around Hounds Of Love and during her film The Line, The Cross & The Curve, where she reunited with her dance mentor. It’s these shots that are the most engrossing, be it trampoline shots for Rubberband Girl or Kate found napping in her make-up chair by Kemp, throwing a vampire-ish shape behind her.

Harari’s style is Continental glamour-meets-old master – there are some Enya-like textures, plus big 80s hair and bold patterns that aren’t quite as timeless. But there’s also plenty of Kate caught ad hoc, enjoying the company of her friend on the other side of the lens, even after a 15-hour day. There are just 1500 books in circulation, at around £100 each or £450 signed by Harari and Kemp, so grab one quick.

Jo Kendall
Jo Kendall

Jo is a journalist, podcaster, event host and music industry lecturer with 23 years in music magazines since joining Kerrang! as office manager in 1999. But before that Jo had 10 years as a London-based gig promoter and DJ, also working in various vintage record shops and for the UK arm of the Sub Pop label as a warehouse and press assistant. Jo's had tea with Robert Fripp, touched Ian Anderson's favourite flute (!), asked Suzi Quatro what one wears under a leather catsuit, and invented several ridiculous editorial ideas such as the regular celebrity cooking column for Prog, Supper's Ready. After being Deputy Editor for Prog for five years and Managing Editor of Classic Rock for three, Jo is now Associate Editor of Prog, where she's been since its inception in 2009, and a regular contributor to Classic Rock. She continues to spread the experimental and psychedelic music-based word amid unsuspecting students at BIMM Institute London, hoping to inspire the next gen of rock, metal, prog and indie creators and appreciators.