David Bowe - Alladin Sane (album cover)

Before I discovered photography, music was my first love.  My radio was always on, my box of tapes always nearby – constantly calling radio stations to check on the name or band performing a song.  I was always listening to music.  Sometimes, all I did was listen to music…staring at the ceiling and imagining far off places or the shapes and colors of sounds – much like Disney’s Fantasia.  Music has a certain connection – it’s a glue that seems to connect everyone equally, especially creative mediums.  See, it was music that first inspired me to explore music.  Have you ever seen the legendary photography of Anton Corbijn?  Even if you don’t know who he is, you’ve seen his work.  He has worked with some of the most popular artist such as U2, David Bowe, Elvis Costello – and he is perhaps one of the most well known portrait photographers.  Well it’s works like his that inspired me – thanks to music.

But Corbijn is not alone.  Through the decades, there have been several great pop art photographers, creating legendary photos for some of the most well known bands.  It makes you wonder who created who?  Did the photographer make the musician legendary?  Or was it the musician who made the photograph legendary?  I would like to think that it was the photographer helping the musician.  After all, seeing is believing…and who would’ve believed Jimmy Hendrix set fire to his guitar without seeing photographic proof?

To see more great musical moments preserved in photographic history, check out the article at Abduzeedo:  Iconic Music Photography

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