Photographs as album covers

[Guillaume Zuili]

One thing that has disappeared in this digital music world of ours is the publication of great photographs as album covers. Sometimes its the photograph of the musician — there's some absolutely fantastic photography made for jazz album covers in the 50s and 60s — but also, and even more interestingly, photographs borrowed from great — or not so great — photographers.

I think it possible that many in my generation started appreciating photography and its evocative powers not through magazines of books but, somewhat unknowingly, through their record collection — I'm talking vinyl, or course.

For example, I've always loved this album jacket. As much as the music that's on the album (big Tom Waits fan here). But only recently have I learned who the photographer was, what his work was, where the photo actually came from.

Now I do have to work a bit to look at it as a photograph totally unrelated to the album cover. It's a great photo. But I already knew that.

Anders Petersen, "Lily & Rose, Café Lehmitz, Hamburg", 1970

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Tom Waits, "Rain Dogs", 1985

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Any others that come to mind ?

I saw Perersen show for the first time at Vu gallery in Paris in early 2000 then in Arles. Absolutely stunning body of work !
Yes we from the LP generation were influenced by the power of photography. Buying even some LP’s just because of the picture !

 

[MattKing]

I like the photographic theme of this image:

Apparently inspired by David Hemmings in "Blow Up".
The photographer was Chris Gabrin, who apparently passed away just last week:
.

 

[cliveh]

Sabattier was very trendy at that time.

 

[ntenny]

Are there strong examples of a musician being the photographer for their own album cover? I couldn’t think of one offhand.

Jandek seems like a plausible candidate, but I don’t think most of the cover credits are known. (I used one of my photos as an album cover, but it doesn’t really count as a “real” release.)

-NT

[Edit: Apologies for forgetting the work of member @RJ-, whose _Fullness & Void_ was the subject of a thread here a little while ago.]

 

[loccdor]

Nick Drake did photography and I believe some of the photos included with his works were his own. Here he is with a Hasselblad.

 

[warden]

Pennie Smith

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Joe Henry's Civilians. Photo is by John Cohen, a New York photographer who worked as an assistant to Robert Frank in the late 50s. The photo is of artist Mary Frank, wife of Robert Frank.

It's a great album, too.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Another great Joe Henry album, Blood from Stars. Photo by W. Eugene Smith

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Joe Henry's 2003 album Tiny Voices features a 1949 photo by Seymour Mednick titled "Mummers (Second and Delancy Street)"

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Histoire de Melody Nelson 1971
Jane Birkin by Tony Frank

 

[Molli]

check out the movie "squaring the Circle: the story of hipgnosis" .

absolutely fascinating - about photography and album art.

Pink Floyd's Delicate Sound of Thunder:

I nearly posted this one earlier when I added U2's album covers, but didn't recognise the photographer's name, so skipped it. Reading up on your documentary recommendation, @jvo , I see the Art Director and Cover Designer was Storm Thorgerson, one of the two co-founders of the Hipgnosis design team and subject of 'Circling The Square'.
The album cover itself was photographed by Andy Earl and Anthony May.

 

[reddesert]

Two more by Eggleston

Curiously, the Eggleston photo of the girl with Brownie camera was also on the cover of Chuck Prophet's "Age of Miracles." Actually I think Chuck used it first. https://newwestrecords.com/products/chuck-prophet-age-of-miracles-cd

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Speaking of album cover photographs, Spencer Elden lost his case, again, against Nirvana.

Nirvana again defeats alleged child sexual abuse image lawsuit over Nevermind cover

Spencer Elden, who was photographed as a baby and put on the cover of the 1991 album, has attempted to sue the band twice, claiming it constituted child sexual abuse

www.theguardian.com

 

[rorye]

I took this portrait last year, on HP5

 

[AnselMortensen]

Congratulations!

 

[Vaughn]

I had this cowboy approach me at Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley -- he wanted some photos for an album cover.

He wanted to pay me cash on the spot after posing in every way that would technically make the 'shoot' to be considered commerical photography needing a permit. Posing in a busy place, standing on a wall above traffic, having a prop. There were two fellows photographing just to our left -- identical cameras on identical tripods, no camera bags full of lenses, etc., and giving me side glances.

After the cowboy tried to pay me (showing some folded up cash in his pocket) and I declined, I asked for the cowboy's email so I could send him an image or two free, of course, but he would not give me his contact info.

It may not have been, but it smelled big-time like a sting operation to get a photo permit violation to show-off to the brand new Supervisor for the Park.

 

[pbromaghin]

Or the greatest of them all:

 

[Pieter12]

Not sure what the Rolleiflex has to do with anything....maybe she had to take her own album cover photo.

 

[warden]

I took this portrait last year, on HP5

Very cool, congrats!

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I took this picture of pianist Alain Lefèvre backstage before a concert. It was black and white, but the jacket designers decided the second chair would look good in red.

Go figure.

 

[David Brown]

I had one of my photographs used for this CD cover in 2020.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I was in Monument Valley and an artist asked me to take a shot of him for his business card. This was it.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Not sure what the Rolleiflex has to do with anything....maybe she had to take her own album cover photo.

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Would have been a good opportunity to invent the Hasselbach...