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.