1989 By LOWFIELD
Amateur Photographer|March 26, 2024
Steve Fairclough uncovers the inside story of a 2014 Taylor Swift album cover
Steve Fairclough
1989 By LOWFIELD

According to US superstar Taylor Swift, her fifth studio album, titled 1989, was inspired by ‘listening to a lot of late ’80s pop. I really loved the chances they were taking, how bold it was’. It was originally released on 27 October 2014, by Big Machine Records, and saw Swift switching her musical direction from country to mainstream pop music.

The album was titled after Swift’s birth year, mainly to signify her symbolic artistic rebirth, and was supported by seven singles, including three US Billboard Hot 100 number ones – Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood.

The fact that Swift named 1989  after her birth year also tends to corroborate the influence of 1980s synth-pop on the record. As creative director, Swift insisted the record’s packaging included pictures taken with a Polaroid instant camera – a photographic method that was significantly more popular in her birth year of 1989 than in the year of the album’s release, 2014, in the age of smartphone cameras and digital images on social media. 

The alleged inspiration of the musical work of Peter Gabriel also seems fitting as, like Gabriel with his 1980 album Peter Gabriel III (aka ‘Melt’), Swift chose to depict herself on the cover by using a Polaroid image as the main visual. In addition, similarly to what Gabriel and his art creatives Hipgnosis did on the cover of the ‘Melt’ album, she made the artistic decision of not showing the whole of her face.

Cut-off head 

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 26, 2024 من Amateur Photographer.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 26, 2024 من Amateur Photographer.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER مشاهدة الكل
Canon finally opens up RF mount
Amateur Photographer

Canon finally opens up RF mount

SIGMA is releasing six APS-C lenses for Canon EOS RF mount, thus widening the choice of glass for Canon’s previously ‘closed’ RF system.

time-read
1 min  |
April 30, 2024
Tony Kemplen on the.Leidolf Lordomat
Amateur Photographer

Tony Kemplen on the.Leidolf Lordomat

A camera made in Germany in the early 1950s and discovered at a charity shop

time-read
2 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Stories from the heart
Amateur Photographer

Stories from the heart

Kenyan fine art photographer Thandiwe Muriu has a gift that she was encouraged by her parents to explore from a young age.

time-read
6 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Cameras big in Japan again
Amateur Photographer

Cameras big in Japan again

AFTER over a decade of bleak news about the key Japanese camera market, domestic research firm GfK Japan has reported positive growth for the first time in 13 years.

time-read
1 min  |
April 30, 2024
Shooting Shogun
Amateur Photographer

Shooting Shogun

What's it like to be the stills photographer on one of the biggest and best historical dramas on TV?

time-read
5 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Handle with care
Amateur Photographer

Handle with care

For his latest book, Fragile, Paul Hart has stepped away from the documentary approach of his previous projects into something more personal. Ailsa McWhinnie finds out more

time-read
6 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Leica SL3
Amateur Photographer

Leica SL3

Leica's top-end mirrorless model gains a 60MP sensor, tilting screen, and significantly improved autofocus. Andy Westlake takes a detailed look

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 30, 2024
More DxO updates
Amateur Photographer

More DxO updates

EVER-INDUSTRIOUS French photo-editing specialist DxO has announced its latest batch of updates.

time-read
1 min  |
April 23, 2024
Budget Honor phone with 108MP camera
Amateur Photographer

Budget Honor phone with 108MP camera

WITH the UK phone market dominated by Apple, Samsung and Google, other makers, notably from China, are jostling for a remaining slice of the pie.

time-read
1 min  |
April 23, 2024
Google AI editing tools free for more phones
Amateur Photographer

Google AI editing tools free for more phones

MORE AI-based photo-editing tools will become available from 15 May, with Google announcing that its Magic Editor will be free to use on Android and iPhone handsets and many Chromebook laptops.

time-read
1 min  |
April 23, 2024