We started off this workshop by looking at a few examples of band photos and talking about what they represented. Our first example was an ACDC band photo and the main attention of it was the guy in the front who was wearing a school uniform. This is what people would find memorable from the image because when you think of a heavy metal band with the lead guitar player dressed in a schoolboy uniform. One interesting thing about this photo is that the person in the school uniform is not the lead singer which is what we would expect by seeing that he is in the front. However, we can assume that the lead singer stepped aside for this photo to let the other guy take the lead with their personality and looks.
The next example we looked at was an Ariana Grande photo. We discussed how contrary to popular belief, her attire is not directed towards the male gaze audience but actually towards a female audience. One important thing that was pointed out was the fact that she was in a very uncomfortable position but it made her look elegant and model-like. This is important because we learned that good photos require for someone to be in an unnatural, uncomfortable position to be seen as unusual and different. In the end, this is what mostly drives sales based on the photo.
Nextly, we looked at a very famous Beetles band photo example of them walking in a synchronic manner outside Abby Road Studios in London. They are all dressed in different colours. We can clearly see that Paul McCartney doesn't have any shoes or socks on. This drove conspiracy theories. One of them was that the fact he didn't wear shoes or socks is because he is already dead and this is a replacement. Even though none of these was true, nobody will attempt to shut them down because ultimately, this will all sell records. Stories always help artists sell a lot because it gives the photos meaning.
One of the final examples we looked at was a Justin Beiber photo. He looks sad. Like he has had enough of life and looks like a tortured artist. The good thing about this photo is that it portrays a story with nice colours while also making him look good. In the end, all of this helps the music sell because of the meanings it allows the audience to interpret.
We were taught that when looking at pictures we must think about how in real life, we unconsciously make snap judgments on who a person is solely by the way they look. This is the way that the audience will interpret a band image that is put out there and these things must be thought of prior. For example, Do you want to make an image display fear, such as the NWA one or do you want to make the image displace diversity, such as the ACDC band photo with the school uniform? Ultimately, it does not matter as long as there is some sort of story which makes the audience pay attention and buy the product.
After looking at all of these examples on Band Photos, we decided to try and improvise our own little band photo using what we knew in a small time frame. We attempted to incorporate what we learned into our own shots. We mainly focused on the fact that we needed to be in uncomfortable positions that looked unusual to make a solid shot to gain attention and hypothetically, drive sales. Here are two examples of this:
Then, we attempted to have a photo which would use the fear response as the main attention catcher(similar to the NWA photo). Obviously, since we are not professionals it didn't go perfectly, however, we did get a decent example out of it.
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