I've been speaking with the editor of
HelpAlongYourWay.com and he has been kind enough to help me out as a guest blogger. The topic: Photography's Visual Impact on Music. Enjoy!
"This poses an interesting venture for me, since I mainly focus on the audible aspect of life - so here it is.
Photography is perhaps, my estimation, one of the most powerful communication mediums in today's world. You see photography on billboards, personal webpages, magazines, search engines, announcements, and a host of other things as well. One field in which photography has had a huge impact is in the music world.
Musically speaking
photography is a completely different world and medium, however when converging with the music world - you have an even stronger medium for which to communicate, for which to deliver your message. With this convergence you have the merging of two senses, not only the visual response but the audible intake of sounds and textures via layers of instrumentation that make a lasting impression. As a result you have a snapshot in time of where you where when you heard and saw a certain photo.
I was first intrigued by this in the 1970s when my older brother had the KISS "ALIVE" (one) double live LP. The album cover had a live shot of KISS playing live, with smoke machines, colored lights, makeup, and poses as if playing. When I listened to the LPs I would just sit and stare at the live photos of the album covers and wonder what a live KISS show would entail. Some thiry one years later I still wonder - yet to see KISS live but I still remember how powerful that live image was, it made a positive impression of this convergence. I was in awe of the color of the lights, the smoke rising around each musician, the captivating makeup(?).
Sometime later the Scorpions metal band from Germany were making big waves in the music world with their release of favorite hits recorded live, World Wide Live. Again, I leaned on my older brother for borrowing the cassette (what is that?!?) and soaked in the musical experience as I perused the various live photos of the cassette case booklet. Tons of live photos, but the most memorable one was the cover, all the original members posing for an lean in moment - as if to say thank you. An unreachable fan, now seemed tangible, reachable and personable.
Let's switch gears for a minute, back across the Atlantic to the Pacific side of things. Mid/late 1980s Metallica released a collection of cover songs called "Garage Days Re-Revisted". In my opinion, possibly some of the best recordings ever by Metallica, featured on the cover scrunched up photo of the guys in the band "pre-show". Instead of professional font printing for the namesake of the band and release; they were handwritten. The photo of the band just lit up the world with T-shirts, other bands using same photo technique, an unpolished photo of sorts with their own handwriting on the covers of their releases. On the backside of the said Metallica release live practice photo shots were taken. It was fun for me to see them in an unpolished fashing, just being themselves.
More recently, digital photography has taken root in cover artwork like NILE's "Ithyphallic". All over the cover and the lyrics are photos of Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphs, and a statue being pulled by egyptian captives/slaves. On the NILE website, you'll see photographs of ancient mummies, tombs and just some mindblowing artwork. It brings to mind the dusty antiquities newer generations forget, history. The photography and impact of NILE on the listening world has been tremendous.
Nile Catacombs
Now this leads me to other websites with photography from other bands, or should I say, photography taken for other bands. One of the most perplexing photographs, yet intriguing in today's world is the cover for Germany's Saphena and their release "das Leben wird zu Glas". The photo shows what seems to be a modern day man perplexed by decisions, struggles, and the dire needs of society for the Savior.
Also from Germany, more photography in music captivates the audience. Rammstein have always used photography to their advantage. One of the best photos of the band, in my estimation, is the CD cover for "LIVE AUS BERLIN". The band members appear to be surrounding the listening session of the first transistor radio. It's quite unusual in that if you know the band or know of them, you know they are very progressive, forward thinking and ahead of their time. You could think of it this way, an oxymoron.
Lastly, I want to discuss an extreme metal band from Sweden, Crimson Moonlight. They've been described as obscure and unheard of, yet when you listen to them you know they have etched their own niched in the metal music world. Not only do the sounds of the band resonate with the listener, but also the photography. Photography has been an equally important part of their success as their sound, especially with their released EP, "In Depths of Dreams Unconscious". The lyrics page pictures take you to an old Scandinavian world of gothic church surroundings, and stern viking look of the band members.
The future of photography will continue to improve in terms of seeing the types of quality photos taken of bands or musicians. The color depth and magnitude tend to improve and become richer and more authentic. Not only do I see these photos being used for press kits, websites, shirts, but also continued use of cover art for CD releases and future audio download images. Not only will the richness increase but the depth and perception of the images. I think as time progresses photography will take on another dimension, so instead of a two dimensional image, you will have a three dimensional effect. Music related photos will appear to be tangible, attainable yet only an image. Not only will this three dimensional effect come into the still shot photos but also videography. Videography plays in important part of music personalities success. Music videos, documentaries, and live concert footage will surpass current hi-def capabilities and may lead progress into the development of dome shaped home theaters, similar to IMAX type theaters, especially similar to the Omni Theater in Fort Worth, Texas
FW Museum Artistic and Media Technologists will continue to push the envelope to create a live in-person experience without the real music group or artist there. This also has the potential to lead to use of holographic images for CD cover art and photography. Music tends to push photography to the latest known limits of reality and defy the imagination. Lastly, I see or hear rather more song subject matter that involves the discussion of photography, imagery and the blurring of reality's defined limits and virtual images appearing real. Who knows someday we may all be listening to holographic music (?)! Hope you have enjoyed this small taste of photography's influence on music. Thanks for reading.
Editor of HelpAlongYourWay.com"
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