Photographic imagery has been implicit within the music industry from as far back as the early part of last century, and nowadays its like the two media have never been separate. The musical artist relies on the visual imagery as a means of conveying what they want to say about themselves and the image they want to promote. One of the biggest staples of the process of creating a certain image is the music video, which acts as an advertisement for a an artist's latest release. An example of the effectiveness of this symbiosis comes from artists such as Madonna, David Bowie and the late Michael Jackson. Without the application of photography and videography, the way these stars have manipulated their images throughout their careers would not have been possible. Of course, since most of an artist's income comes from album sales, the cover of the record is equally as instrumental gaining in creating an image. With the introduction of digital photography, and with the internet now as pervasive as oxygen, the process has become all the more accessible.
I was reminded of some of the iconic images of the not-so-distant past whilst researching the work of music photographer, Andy Earl. Not only did this remind me of some of the actual covers he had shot, but it gave me insight of how the photograph [digital image] is very much a product of its time. Earl himself had reproduced Edouard Manet’s Le déjeuner surl’herbe (The
Luncheon on the Grass) [below] for use as up-and-coming 80s band, Bow Wow Wow, so this seemed a good starting point for introducing my album cover (to follow in next post).
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| Le déjeuner surl’herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) by Edouard Manet. |
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| The album cover for See Jungle, See Jungle by Bow Wow Wow, a great example of how classic art can be reappropriated by photographic media. For a more explicit example of how photography mimics art see my blog post from our trip to London: http://jaspinallphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/a-trip-to-london-12th-14th-november-2012.html |
This was Earl's first album cover, and the one he first gained notoriety for, due to the fact the model bearing her flesh was only 15 at the time, which comes of further proof of the impact the image has in general upon the masses. Ironically, the music industry, and the photograph used to promote it has helped shape the whole of teen culture itself. The moral issue of teens being sexualised by the media is one that keeps coming up, and- since it is the camera that initially takes the picture- surely photography has a part to play in this?
It is evident Earl's work has evolved alongside the inception of digital photography, which is expressed in what becomes a shameless plug of Apple's Aperture on their website:
"I was never really sure whether digital capture was
going to deliver exactly what I needed — whether the blacks would be black
enough; whether I’d be able to enlarge the files in
the way I wanted. But then the technology got to a point where it was clearly
better than film" (1).
He goes on to say that he is now in control, and that he does not have to rely on his lab to reach the right results, for the digital revolution in photography now allows him to assume complete control of his own creative process, and all this is done faster and more efficiently than film:
I can process, edit and adjust — and then potentially
abandon — an image in a matter of seconds.
This obviously benefits the music industry, in that mores images can be produced and sent to whoever has commissioned them (record label, magazines etc), meaning the images can appear in print or on the internet much more quickly, enticing the public to buy into this new image, and subsequently buy the music (it it has not already been downloaded for free).
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