Visual Aid

I started writing about the books only bookshelf as way to make me pull out some of the titles and re examine or re assess them. Today I pulled out an old one that really influenced me, Visual Aid. Visual Aid was a photo book response of to the first of Live Aid that big live music attempt to alleviate hunger in Africa in 1986. Several photographers contributed:

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE
DAVID BAILEY
MATTHEW ROLSTON
SHEILA METZNER
HERB RITTS
SNOWDON
GREG GORMAN
ANDY WARHOL

It was a mix of firmly established and a new batch of pro photogs. Three of the photogs aren’t really my thing. David Bailey’s snaps back stage at Live Aid are ok, hard lit on white, Snowdown’s collection of images are very stuffy and all over the place and the polaroid of Andy Warhols are exactly what you expect.

Stuff from Annie was typical of her early 80’s stuff. Back when using studio strobes outside and under exposing the ambient was a cool new thing. 

Matthew Rolston, Herb Ritts and Greg Gorman all came up around the same time and went on to really establish the look and feel of celebrity portraiture in the late 80’s and 90’s. I subscribed to Interview magazine and seeing the images from these three produced nice and big in that mag every month was amazing!

This shot of Mel Gibson by Heard Ritts STILL lives in my head rent free all these years later. Every time I was tasked to photograph a male model throughout my career, this image lurks in the memory banks

Greg Gorman was a huge name back then I am so glad to see he’s still at it!

Molly Ringwald is one of the few subjects repeated twice in this book but its really showcases the difference sin style between Matthew Rolston and Shelia Metzner, both who’s work from this era and beyond, I adore.

in fact you can see a failed attempt at sharing my bookshelf on Youtube where I talked about Sheila