Photographing the music industry's finest - Dean Chalkley's drowning us in coolness

In my eyes, Jarvis Cocker is the coolest man on this planet. Now it could be his shaggy locks, his big glasses or even just his impeccable wit and irony, but in my mind there is no Englishman finer than Jarvis, especially with a name like that. So when iconic music photographer Dean Chalkley photographed him plus a host of music’s hippest names, the results could only be magnificent, and disappoint he did not.

Photographing the likes of Pete Doherty, Amy Winehouse, Jay Z and The White Stripes, Dean’s portraits capture the personality of his subjects with absolute precision (Pete Doherty with his tongue poking inside a skull oddly couldn’t be more perfect) and it is clear that Dean is one incredibly talented man.

With his latest exhibition (hurrah!) at none other than the Royal Albert Hall, it is about time the world got to see exactly what ten years of dedication looks like. And showing both Look.Hear – a collection of portraits of established musical greats – and Young Souls – of which focuses on the growing generation of the young Northern Soul scene – the Londoners among you would be foolish not to take a look.

Look.Hear and Young Souls will be on show at the Royal Albert Hall until October 26 with the next free open day taking place on October 6.