Human Rights
Book Proposal
Human Rights in the Rhythm of Rock – Protest Music of the 1980s & 1990s By G. Scott MacLeod
An enlightening, enriching and entertaining exploration of the rise of socially conscious music of the 1980s & 1990s through some never-before-seen photos and accompanying text by photojournalist G. Scott MacLeod.
The book and exhibition features never-before-seen analogue colour slide and black and white photographs, and framed by accompanying reflective and historical text, in this book photojournalist G. Scott MacLeod has captured and conveyed the political, social, moral and musical milieu of the 1980s & 1990s.
Human Rights in the Rhythm of Rock is an enriching look at an important era in music. It seemed to be a moment when we went from “sex, drugs & rock ‘n roll” to socially conscious lyrics that had deeper meaning.
View photo journalist G. Scott MacLeod’s story on Photographing Leonard Cohen on his I’m Your Man release in 1988 on YouTube.
Book Launch & Exhibition
La Galerie Espace 4844 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, QC H2T 1R5
December 17th to 23rd 2025 - Vernissage December 18 décembre 18h – 20h
Order the soft-cover version online:
lulu.com
About the Artist, Photographer, Filmmaker and Author
G. Scott MacLeod is an international award-winning artist, photographer, film director and author.
MacLeod was a photojournalist with the Montreal Mirror from 1988 to 1990. Notably he photographed the late Leonard Cohen for the cover of the Montreal Mirror cover during Cohen’s I’m Your Man tour, Sinéad O’Connor for her The Lion And The Cobra release and the Human Rights Now! world tour which featured celebrated musicians Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Tracy Chapman.
In 1991 he represented Canada in Dublin Ireland for the European City of Culture Festival at the Guinness Hop Store Gallery. He has directed and produced 11 films in collaborations with the National Film Board of Canada. His feature film, The Water of Life (2015) was on Amazon Prime Video in 2018.
He has worked as a freelance photographer for such notable jazz acts as three-time Juno winner Christine Jensen and Sub Pop acts Jale and Hartship Post and celebrities such as actor Gabriel Byrne and musician Chris Spedding.
MacLeod is a member of The Quebec Writers’ Federation and wrote a chapter based on his Berlin Cold War documentary, After the War with Hannelore in, A Heart of Wisdom: Life Writing as Empathetic Inquiry, Peter Lang Publishing, New York.
He attended 18 international creative residencies over the last 40 years. In 2019, he published a travel journal accompanied by his photos, 29 Days on the Reykjanes Peninsula – Iceland, one of the worlds last natural wonders, on his Iceland residency.
His artwork and photography have been presented internationally and are in many permanent collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Dr. Jane Goodall Institute and TV personality Rick Mercer.
He currently lives in Montreal, Canada.
