This document contains analyses of several photos of famous musicians. The photos are summarized as follows: 1. The photo of Notorious B.I.G shows him wearing a crown, symbolizing his status as the greatest rapper, with a serious expression reflecting his lyrical themes of crime and violence. 2. The photo of Ian Curtis from Joy Division captures his raw emotion, focusing entirely on him and contrasting ideas of their loud, aggressive live performances. 3. The photo of Elvis Presley shows him vulnerable among paparazzi, ironic given his "King of Rock and Roll" persona. 4. The photo of Robert Smith from The Cure depicts his dark, tormented pose

1. Photo analysis and research.

2. This is an iconic picture of Christopher
Wallace (otherwise known as
Notorious B.I.G or Biggie Smalls). He is
shown wearing a crown which
symbolises his overall career as he was
known as the greatest rapper of all
time (2 main sources being The Source
and Blender) and also links to such
reviews of his music as "Biggie was a
master of the flow" (Fredro
Starr of Onyx).
The red background could potentially
suggest the dangerous life he has lead
through drug dealing, gangs and
violence.
His serious expression could be linked
with the majority of is lyrical themes of
mixed autobiographical details about
crime and violence with emotional
honesty.

3. This is one of the most iconic
pictures of Ian Curtis. I believe this
image is very powerful because
the photographer is able to
capture the raw emotion that Joy
Division’s music represents.
The simple background doesn’t
distract and makes you focus
entirely on him.
This picture is taken of a live
performance, and contrasts with
the idea that Joy Division typically
played loudly and aggressively
during live performances.
It also shows Ian at peace on stage
which didn’t always occur due to
his epilepsy which lead him to
have fits during a performance.

4. This is a superb picture as it shows the busy life of a famous musician. As you can see Elvis
is swamped with paparazzi and looks like he is in quite a vulnerable state, this is ironic as he
was known as the “King of Rock and Roll”, a stereotypically fearless genre of music.
It was featured in LIFE magazine which is a famous and world wide known American
magazine and are known to have iconic and memorable pictures.

5. This is a fascinating picture of Robert Smith of The Cure. Mainly due to the manic pose of
his, it shows Robert looking dark and tormented, which was their early style of music which
helped form the gothic rock genre. It seems to represent their musical traits well, which
have been described as "dominant, melodic bass lines; whiny, strangulated vocals; and a
lyric obsession with existential, almost literary despair.”

6. This picture of Metronomy is playful and comical which represents their style of music well.
The fact that the picture has been taken in an old and antique looking café which links well
with their somewhat indie style. It’s also quite interesting as I’ve noticed that the two newest
members (the man on the right and the woman) are the ones playing and the 2 older
members are sat back watching in a sort of wise manner which is incredibly clever in terms
of embodying the bands current situation.

7. Jimi Hendrix’s facial expression shows
his passion for his music and how he
places all his emotion into the guitar.
He shows no distraction from the
stage around him and focuses
entirely onto his guitar and music.
This picture helps to represent the
idea that he has been one of the best
electric guitarists in the history of
popular music.
Like some of the other pictures I have
shown this has nothing in the
background which lets you
understand the position he is in with
his guitar.

8. This is a picture of Alice Glass (from Crystal Castles) that was used in an issue of NME.
The use of the caption is humorous as they point out the fact that Alice is obviously
different to other girls. It’s safe to say her pose is odd and not ladylike, which somewhat
represents her personality and potentially Crystal Castles music well. They show Alice in
quite a messy state, which is technically her usual state, especially during her stage
performances and even her backstage routines.

9. I think this is a good picture of the Arctic Monkeys as it acts as a promotion for their new
make over of the band. As they have now moved to America and using more American music
influences, the band is shown in a 50s America looking setting with the vintage car, the old
house and the palm trees. They are also dressed in denim or leather jackets and are greasing
back their hair.

10. I think these black and white pictures
of Michael Kiwanuka are particularly
good as it imitates the reviews that he
is a lot like older artists such as Otis
Redding and Bob Dylan.
The bottom picture is very reminiscent
of older concerts as it shows no
barrier between the crowd and the
artist and shows that there is a proper
connection between the two.
They also both show Michael really
enjoying himself and his music.