Summers states that his photography may indeed be influenced by his absorption with music and that in a sense the photography he creates is a visual counterpart to the music that never leaves his head. Thus in Summers musical predilections – that may be termed as a taste for the melancholic, the convulsive melodic line, the dark chord with a few stray notes added – we find the brooding minor key photography he is attracted to. He adds that music and photography are kindred spirits in that they are nonverbal arts, but handily, may have interchangeable terms.
Below are photography books by Andy.
Visit the writing page for additional titles with text written by Andy.
ACC Art Books, 2023The great photo book of the guitarist of the band The Police: Andy Summers collects his best photographs in a coffee-table book for the first time
A CERTAIN STRANGENESS
University of Texas Press and Editions Hazan, 2019
Andy Summers, guitarist of the rock band The Police, presents the visual equivalent to his musical work in this career-spanning collection of photographs, accompanied by essays from Summers and prominent French photographer and critic Gilles Mora.
DESIRER WALKS THE STREETS
Nazraeli, 2009
Desirer Walks the Streets presents a dark stream of black and white photographs that are culled from Andy Summers’s life as a traveling musician. From a working life that outwardly would appear to be extroverted and chaotic, Summers has created a set of quietly compelling images that contradict the obvious. Made between 1983 and 2008, with a preference for the night shot, and covering a wide geographical graph from the Alto Plano of Bolivia to the alleys of the Golden Gai in Tokyo, the photographs convey a sense of intimacy, surrealism and situations that may be described as ‘in media res.’
I’LL BE WATCHING YOU: INSIDE THE POLICE 1980-83
Taschen, 2007
I’ll Be Watching You released by Taschen in 2007 and coinciding with the 2007/8 Police reunion world tour might be considered a vastly expanded version of his earlier book Throb. I’ll Be Watching You is available in both collectors and deluxe editions, containing over six hundred photographs from Andy’s Police days along with the journal entries of that period, providing an even more intimate look into one of the most successful bands and music careers of all time.
THROBWilliam Morrow & Company, 1983
The Police on tour photographed by guitarist Andy Summers. In the early 1980s, The Police went on tour accompanied by a photographer who documented the band behind the scenes in a series of candid and striking black and white photos. This talented photographer also happened to be the band’s guitarist, Andy Summers. Yes, it’s true the man responsible for the sparkling unique guitar sound of the Police and the guitar lick from “Every Breath You Take” was not only the backbone of one of the most popular bands of all time, he also possessed a visual gift that allowed him to document and capture the intimacy rawness and spirit of The Police.
Andy Summers’ 1983 black and white photography book Throb documents his travels and life on the road with the Police. Throb was originally published by the William Morris Press Label and is currently out of print.
Past Exhibitions
Andy Summers photography has been exhibited at elite galleries and museums around the world. Past exhibitions of Andy Summers photographs include showings in Paris, Paddington, Tokyo, Montréal, New York City, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto, Boston, and Las Vegas. His work has also been published in magazines and Andy has recently begun giving keynote presentations on his photography.
View Photo Galleries
On this site, you can explore Andy Summers’ photography by viewing online image galleries which include pictures from Throb, I’ll Be Watching You, and Desirer Walks the Streets. You can also look at Andy’s retrospective shows A Certain Strangeness in Europe last year.