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After opening up to Billboard magazine last week, Stevie Nicks has been making major headlines. The 66-year-old got candid about her past cocaine addiction and a terminated pregnancy she and Eagles founder Don Henley had only subtly discussed (or sang about) before. Between blowing the lid off of her own experiences, she previewed "Mabel Normand," a single off her upcoming album, 24 Karat Gold (out October 6). And, she's preparing for her photography exhibit of the same name, which opens October 10 at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City.
The photo retrospective features a collection of Polaroid self-portraits taken by Nicks during Fleetwood Mac's heyday, between 1975 and 1987. The snaps exude a retro, California vibe, which Peter Blachley, the gallery's co-owner and founder, described in the press release as "totally honest and authentic." They also provide a behind-the-scenes look into the life of one of the greatest female rock icons of all time.
Because she took most of her photos in the middle of the night, Nicks had to take self-portraits. ("I'm not going to get Christine [McVie] to be my model," she said in the release. "She's going to say, 'Are you crazy? I'm going to the bar. Bye.'") She's also not on board with the idea of calling the resulting images "selfies."
"My portraits could be full-body and lots of props," Nicks added. "You could be on a chaise lounge with shawls and feathers and a cat or dog. They were well thought out." In fact, she she admitted to taking at least 12 shots until she found one she liked — which, in the pre-digital era, meant that someone had to be sent out on frequent late-night film runs.
Nicks re-discovered the pics in old shoe boxes while uncovering songs for 24 Karat Gold, which contains lost music written between the '60s and '90s. "When I started looking back at these songs I wrote years ago to select what I would record for my new album, I began to look at all the Polaroids I had taken during that time," she explained. "For every love affair I had, there are pictures."
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