German-born New Zealand-based photographer Frank Habicht captured the uninhibited spirit of the 1960s, photographing such iconic figures as Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, director Roman Polanski, Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. An exhibition of his work - The Sixties: High Tide & Green Grass - is on at the Gow Langsford Gallery during the Auckland Festival of Photography.German-born New Zealand-based photographer Frank Habicht captured the uninhibited spirit of the 1960s, photographing such iconic figures as Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, director Roman Polanski, Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. An exhibition of his work - The Sixties: High Tide & Green Grass - is on at the Gow Langsford Gallery during the Auckland Festival of Photography.A time of social upheaval

The 1960s are synonymous with dramatic political and social revolution and change. The conservatism and restrictions of the 1950s gave way to a more radical libertine generation, committed to fostering utopian ideals of free love, world peace and harmony.

Fashion defined the freedom of the era in the designs of Mary Quant, with the invention of the bikini, the miniskirt and the reign of the supermodel in Twiggy.

It was the decade that saw the Beatles and the Rolling Stones invade America, the peak of the civil rights movement, the assassination of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Malcom X. Widespread protests against the Vietnam War erupted while the end of the decade gave rise to hope as the world witnessed for the first time a man walking on the moon.

It was this era that photographer Frank Habicht captured through his lens.

An international career in photography

Born in Hamburg in 1938, Habicht began his career as a photographer in 1960. He quickly became established as a freelance photographer and writer in Europe, with work published in numerous magazines.

Habicht also gained employment working as a stills photographer for film directors Bryan Forbes, Roman Polanski and Jules Dassin (1965-68), as in-house photographer for the Playboy Club in London (1970) and as a freelance photographer for Top of the Pops (1969).

These encounters provided Habicht direct access to international pop idols and film stars, who became the subjects of his most celebrated photographs - Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, actor/director duo Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, actors Vanessa Redgrave, Marty Feldman and Christopher Lee, director Roman Polanski and photographer Lord Lichfield.

From Germany to the Bay of Islands

In 1981 Frank left a successful international career to reside in New Zealand's Bay of Islands. He now spends much of his time devoted to creating images that celebrate the landscape and community in and around the Bay of Islands where he lives.

A father-son collaboration

In July 2007 Random House will publish Frank and his son Florian Habicht's photographic book I DO - Classic New Zealand Weddings. Florian Habicht's new film project Permissive Paradise is inspired by Frank's experiences as a photographer in London during the '60s.

When: 30 May - 30 June 2007
Where: Gow Langsford Gallery, Corner Kitchener & Wellesley Streets, Auckland.