Pro Gear, Pro Attitude: American Photo Has Visions Of Rock, But Fails To Paint A Pretty Picture
I was excited to see the newest issue of American Photo had devoted itself to the inherent rockingness of photography, but knew I was in for a bumpy ride just by merely glancing at the cover, which offered a neon smorgasboard of musicians-turned-photogs: Mick Fleetwood, Lenny Kravitz, Graham Nash, Perry Farrell, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Patti Smith, John Mayer, Lou Reed, Jakob Dylan, Michael Stipe, and Bryan Adams. Really.
It wasn’t like the editors of AmPhoto were batting around ideas when they came up with the music-and-photos concept–the whole issue is sponsored by Nikon, as part of their “Visions of Rock” exhibit, where you can bask in the glory of the images within.
The photos themselves vary in quality. Graham Nash, Bryan Adams (no, really), Jakob Dylan, Andy Summers (the lone place where he can be free of Sting) and Lou Reed combine excellent technique with a wide variety of subject matter–fellow musicians, royalty, street life and more–and manage to make it engaging. They’re not making up superficial excuses to mask sub-par quality of their work, which is what the other participants are doing. In fact, if I was rich, I’d wager that some musicians’ assistants took their photographs. (Michael Stipe, did you steal Sasha Frere-Jones’ broken hard drive?)
And what kind of glitzy, attention-grabbing issue would this be without some bragging about–I mean, discussion of–expensive gear? Let the eye-glazing begin: Lou Reed brags about splurging on an expensive lens and wearing it around his neck. Yes, Lou, I’m aware it’s called barium crown glass, but if I see that Contax lens dangling around your neck like one of Flavor Flav’s clocks, I’m yanking it off. Adams name-drops late photographer Herb Ritts (a.k.a. the guy who made all those Chris Issak videos look awesome). Former Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur explains how she rigs her shutter release on guitar pedals to photograph while playing. A neat concept, sure, but the “WomynsFest2k7” vibe given off by the photo is just too much to handle. It’s safe to say, though, that she’s light years ahead of Perry Farrell, whose photographs look like outtakes from his Satellite Party-inspired Photoshop doodles.
Visions of Rock [American Photo]
