NB Photography : Music Photography Album cover

Task was to produce a image for an album cover

George born to rock

I chose this image because it has a lot of energy. The light causing over exposure almost feels like the image could be taken at a live concert on stage. The shadow behind George I feel make the image interesting and gives it depth.

Inspiration

My inspiration for the photograph was the album cover by The Clash

Cover of The Clash album London Calling.

The cover features a photograph by Pennie Smith of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar against the stage, at The Palladium in New York City on 21 September 1979 during the "Clash Take the Fifth" U.S. tour. The picture is surrounded by typography deliberately similar to Elvis Presley's debut album. The picture was later voted the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q (magazine), although at the time Smith did not want the picture used. She did not feel it was a technically good shot because the photograph is slightly out of focus (as she was backing away from Paul to avoid getting hit). However, Joe Strummer convinced her to use the shot. The broken remains of Simonon's bass are in the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheClashLondonCallingalbumcover.jpg

London Calling

London Calling is the third studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 through CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 through Epic Records. The album represented a change in The Clash's musical style, featuring elements of ska, funk, pop, soul, jazz, rockabilly, and reggae more prominently than in their previous two albums.

The album's subject matter included social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood. The album received unanimously positive reviews and was ranked at number eight on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003. London Calling was a top ten album in the UK, and its lead single "London Calling" was a top 20 single. It has sold over five million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Calling

Pennie Smith

Pennie Smith
Born 1949
London, England
Education Twickenham Art school
Pennie Smith (born in London) is an English photographer, known for having photographed several rock musicians. She specialises in black-and-white photography.
Smith attended Twickenham Art school in the late 1960s, studying graphics and fine art. With others, she collaborated with graphic designer, Barney Bubbles and music journalist, Nick Kent in producing Friends magazine from 1969 to 1972. In 1970 she designed the sleeve for the Pink Fairies debut release Never Never Land. Her first major photographic commission was to cover a 1970s Led Zeppelin tour. Smith went on to work at the NME as staff photographer until the early 1980s.
In her career, Smith has photographed some well-known rock musicians including: Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Iggy Pop, The Clash, The Jam, The Slits, Siouxsie Sioux, Debbie Harry, U2, Morrissey, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis , David Smith and The Strokes.
In addition to her portrait work she has covered tours with musicians, including a photograph of The Clash's Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar on the stage in New York during a 1979 tour. The photograph went on to be used on the cover of the Clash album London Calling, designed by Ray Lowry, and received Q magazine’s "Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Photograph of All-Time" award in 2002.

Smith's work has appeared on the covers and pages of the NME, on album sleeves, promotional material and has featured in books. In 1980 her best selling book, The Clash, Before and After, was published.
Smith currently lives and works in a disused railway station in West London, which she bought and converted into a studio while she was a student, and freelances in black and white reportage photography.
In late 2009 multiple images by Smith were included in the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit of rock photography at the Brooklyn Museum.
In Jan 2010 Smith's London Calling image was issued on a postage stamp by the Royal Mail.