Nick Cave

Nick Cave AO (b. 1957), singer, songwriter and author, was born in Warracknabeal, Vic., and went to Caulfield Grammar School, where he formed his first band, The Boys Next Door. In 1980 the band changed its name to The Birthday Party and moved to London, where it significantly influenced other punk bands. Members of The Birthday Party formed The Bad Seeds, whose first album appeared in 1984. Cave has provided music for several films, including Wings of Desire (1987); he co-wrote, acted in and scored Ghosts . . . of the Civil Dead (1988) and scripted The Proposition (2006). He has written several novels while continuing to release albums and perform internationally. Ashley Mackevicius and Nick Cave were friends at Caulfield Grammar School, as Cave was entering his Boys Next Door phase. This photograph was taken in the loft bedroom Cave occupied in his own parents' house, with Cave's desk lamp illuminating the shot and one of his drawings on the wall. After attending art school Mackevicius gained a full-time photography job with Australian Consolidated Press in Sydney in 1984. Later he set up a studio in Balmain, coming to specialise in food photography for magazines, advertising and books. He won the Kodak Australian Photographer of the Year award in 1996. He has recently turned away from commercial work to focus on his art photography practice.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
© Ashley Mackevicius