Sunny Bak is an American photographer. She shot the gatefold image of the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

on the ''

Licensed to Ill ''Licensed to Ill'' is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records. The album became the first rap LP to top the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and was the second ra ...

'' album, and the infamous Lesbian cover for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' in June 1993, which still ranks among their top ten selling issues.

Early life

Sunny Bak was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

to Chinese-Indonesian and Korean parents.

Photography career

1970s

Sunny Bak began shooting pictures in 1972 at Woodside Junior High School in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

for her school paper at the age of twelve. Her first subjects for the paper included

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

and the Broadway show casts of ''

1776 Events January–February * January 1 – American Revolutionary War – Burning of Norfolk: The town of Norfolk, Virginia is destroyed, by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces. * January ...

'' and ''

Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first ten ...

''. The school paper rejected her interview with

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

on the grounds that Simon was an unknown at the time. Bak sold the interview to ''Aktuil'', an Indonesian rock magazine, for $100—her first sale. Sunny Bak opened her first studio in 1976 on Broadway and 18th Street in Manhattan while attending City-As-School. The studio was located at 876 Broadway which was owned at the time by photographer William Biggart, the only journalist to die from the 9/11 attacks. At the same time, Sunny Bak was studying photography under

Philippe Halsman Philippe Halsman (; ; 2 May 1906 – 25 June 1979) was an American portrait photographer. He was born in Riga in the part of the Russian Empire which later became Latvia, and died in New York City. Life and work Halsman was born in Riga to a Jew ...

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

in Manhattan.

1980s

In the 1980s Sunny Bak developed a style using Polapan film photographing New York City's downtown diva scene, including

Michael Musto Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American journalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. He is best known as a columnist for ''The Village Voice'', ...

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

, Dominique and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, which got her noticed by Annie Flanders, editor in chief and founder of '' Details'' magazine. Sunny Bak worked extensively throughout the mid eighties for ''Details'' as an advertising and fashion photographer. Her music clients included the

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the re ...

Jellybean Benitez John Benitez (born November 7, 1957), also known as Jellybean, is an American musician, songwriter, DJ, remixer, and music producer. He has produced and remixed artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters. H ...

, and Fiona. In 1984, Bak's intern from City As School, David Scilken introduced her to his former bandmates from the punk rock band,

The Young and the Useless The Young and the Useless were an American punk band formed in the early 1980s that consisted of Adam Trese, Arthur Africano, David Scilken and future Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz. They were managed by former Beastie Boys manager Nick ...

who had since changed their style and their name to the

. The Beastie Boys became a semi permanent fixture at her studio where Bak often photographed their candid moments. Her studio became the location for their infamous " Fight For Your Right To Party" video and she shot them numerous times on the Licensed to Ill Tour. Her images of the Beastie Boys can be seen on the albums ''

'', ''

Solid Gold Hits ''Solid Gold Hits'' is a greatest hits collection by Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocal ...

'', ''Def Jam 25'', and "Def Jam Recordings: the First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label" (Rizzoli 2011).

1990s

She lived in London in 1991 and worked as a fashion and music photographer. During this time she shot

10,000 Maniacs 10,000 Maniacs are an American alternative rock band founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four albums that c ...

Def American American Recordings (formerly Def American Recordings, Inc.) is an American record label headed by producer Rick Rubin. The label has featured artists such as Slayer, the Black Crowes, ZZ Top, Danzig (band), Danzig, Trouble (band), Trouble, T ...

, Danzig,

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Philippe Saisse Philippe Saisse (; born 1957) is a French jazz musician, composer, record producer, and arranger. Career He was born in Marseille and raised in Paris. After studying at the Paris Conservatory he won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. ...

and Engelbert Humperdinck. In 1992, Sunny Bak moved to Venice in Los Angeles. Currently she shoots celebrity portraiture and produces film and television.

References

External links

* http://www.sunnybak.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Bak, Sunny Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Artists from Manhattan American people of Chinese-Indonesian descent American people of Korean descent American women photographers 21st-century American women