It's been a week or two of veteran bands making a return to the spotlight. Even The Beatles released their final song which I actually thought was a wonderful finale and liked a lot. The band I want to talk about though is Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark who are currently in the album charts with a new album Bauhaus Staircase. Well, more accurately, I want to talk about the excellent image on the cover of their 1980 album Organisation. An album that I've enjoyed listening to for more than forty years.
The album cover (designed by graphic designer Peter Saville) for Organisation remains one of my favourites. Never has an image visually better summed up the album's dark and moody sonic landscape and yet for years, I had no idea where the photograph had been taken. It turned out that I'd actually visited and never known the connection! It is only thanks to the internet that I now know where it is - the photograph was shot by Richard Nutt and is of the cloud-covered peak of Marsco in the Red Cuillin mountains, on the Isle of Skye.
A quick search online and sadly Richard Nutt doesn't seem to have much of a presence, although it turns out there are plenty of other Richards producing landscape work - myself included! Did the photograph have an influence on my photography? I think most definitely although probably at a more subconscious level than other photography sources. I've always had a soft spot for dark moody landscape photography. Maybe this image is where that all started.
My next visit to Skye will definitely include a visit to see Marsco... and maybe take a photo in homage to the OMD Organisation cover image. Now there is a creative challenge!
The album cover (designed by graphic designer Peter Saville) for Organisation remains one of my favourites. Never has an image visually better summed up the album's dark and moody sonic landscape and yet for years, I had no idea where the photograph had been taken. It turned out that I'd actually visited and never known the connection! It is only thanks to the internet that I now know where it is - the photograph was shot by Richard Nutt and is of the cloud-covered peak of Marsco in the Red Cuillin mountains, on the Isle of Skye.
A quick search online and sadly Richard Nutt doesn't seem to have much of a presence, although it turns out there are plenty of other Richards producing landscape work - myself included! Did the photograph have an influence on my photography? I think most definitely although probably at a more subconscious level than other photography sources. I've always had a soft spot for dark moody landscape photography. Maybe this image is where that all started.
My next visit to Skye will definitely include a visit to see Marsco... and maybe take a photo in homage to the OMD Organisation cover image. Now there is a creative challenge!
