This document contains analyses of the effectiveness of various music magazine photographs. It discusses aspects like lighting, composition, symbolism and their relation to conveying the artists' image and music. Two photos are deemed ineffective - one is too dimly lit and unprofessional-looking while the other is overexposed and blurred, looking crowded and unfitting of a music magazine.

1. Music magazine
photography

2. Effective

3. This image is effective as it has
a natural, non-contrived look.
It’s lighting and colours
represent a natural look, and a
basic layout (black background,
simple clothes, etc). The
serious expressions on the
band members faces reflect
their serious, no-nonsense
stance.
Also, the placing of the band
members in the photograph is
significant, as we can see that
Liam is the leader of the band,
as he is in front of the other
members.

4. This image is effective as it is simple
(blank, sepia tinted background),
and uses harsh, dramatic lighting,
reflecting the artists seriousness.
The sepia tinted feel of the
photograph also reflects Neil’s
vintage sound, which is helped by
the traditional “Western” attire that
illustrates his Southern sound
further.

5. This image is effective as the
harsh lighting illustrates the
band’s gritty, rough sound. The
simple layout and attire could
also reflect the “back to basics”
sound of the band (guitar,
bass, vocals, etc.) which
differed from the more synth-
based music which was
predominant at the time (early
1980s/late 1970s).

6. As with the previous images, this
image uses a simple background so
as not to distract from the main
subject (Paul Weller). The clothes
Paul is wearing assert a smart and
sophisticated image, and thus
reflects Pauls intelligent song writing
style, but incidentally could also be
an ironic tongue in cheek reference
to songs of his, such as the satirical
Eton Rifles (“What chance have you
got against a tie and a crest”).

7. This image is effective as it
uses popular misconceptions
and defies them. The feature
of a trumpet in the photograph
is a tongue-in-cheek reference
to the perceived frequent use
on Mark Ronson’s music, and
the use of it, in this case,
shows that he is breaking from
that stereotype (further helped
by the captions “No more
trumpets” and “No more crap
cover versions”), and is going
into a new style of music
(which would interest Mark
Ronson’s fans into reading this
particular issue.

8. This image is effective as it’s
unconventional use of makeup
makes it eye catching, and
effectively ties in with the slogan
(“They’ve struck gold again.”).
The portrayal of frontman Michael
Stipe at the front of the image
reflects his important role in the
band.
The use of having the other two
members of the band side to side
to the lead creates an almost
symmetrical effect, which is
aesthetically pleasing.

9. This image is effective as it is not
too crowded/distracting, and the
eye is mostly drawn to the intended
subject (Robert Smith), and the
feature of regular buildings rather
than a sophisticated studio setup is
reflected by the caption (“Robert
Smith bounces the Cure against the
walls of absurdity and says hello to
hedonism”), and implies a “street-
wise” and gritty feel for the bands
music at the time.
Smiths’ attire is traditionally punk,
and helps to show Smiths’ punk
influences (for example, his clothes
are very similar to those of Sid
Vicious some years earlier) and
further gives a feel for the bands
sound and stance at this point.

10. This photograph is effective as it
uses perspective and lighting
interestingly and, as a result,
produces an eye catching cover. The
portrayal of Morrissey at the
foreground of the photograph helps
to establish to the reader his place
in the band (leader, co-songwriter,
etc.), and the use of colours in the
background lighting creates an
effective colour scheme.
Incidentally, the colours of the fonts
used (such as the NME logo) match
the colour scheme of the
photograph, helping to establish a
pleasing aesthetic effect in terms of
the cover in general.

11. Not so effective

12. This photo is not effective as
the lighting is rather dim
and has a rather
unprofessional feel, you can
tell it was not taken in a
studio.

13. This cover is not effective as
the lighting is too bright, and
the colour grading of the
photograph doesn’t create a
pleasing effect (the colours
are loud and overexposed),
and some parts of the image
are blurred. The photo
generally looks crowded and
unprofessional, and doesn’t fit
in with the studio style images
typically associated with such
magazines.