Album Cover: Gaëllou - Love is my Rebellion
I am so excited to finally share a project I have been working on over the last few months! Album cover artwork for the new Gaëllou album "Love is my Rebellion"...
You can purchase your own copy of this
very special album here:
I met Gaëlle Greenwood, aka "Gaëllou" aka "G", towards the end of 2019 as part of hosting the first annual Deep South Community Art Exhibition 2019. Not only is G a talented songwriter and musician, but she is also a talented artist and graphic designer. I loved the artwork she submitted to the exhibition, which was very different, quirky and fun. During the administration of the exhibition we started chatting about art, life and music. I instantly felt a deep connection and friendship with her. She shared some of her story with me and I bought her first album "Rooted" with her band Tinned Asparagus on the spot!
Then 2020 happened with Covid and lockdown and I lost touch with G for a bit during the first half of 2020. But when lockdown restrictions eased somewhat here in South Africa after Covid's first wave, I bumped into G at a local eatery where she was busking and we connected again. We bumped into each other a couple of times and soon I was making arrangements to host the Deep South Community Art Exhibition 2020. G kindly offered to perform for free at the opening reception for the exhibition. But I have a policy: No artist works for free! While I have this policy, I also did not have the budget to pay her to perform as the Deep South Community Art initiative is also a charity event in support of TEARS Animal Rescue. I suggested a trade instead: She performs at the exhibition and I will do some professional headshot photographs for her.
In the end, the whole band joined and they performed an awesome 45 minute set at the exhibition and even gave us a sneak performance of their first single "Language of Kindness" that was only due for official release the next day. It was a truly special evening! To give you a taste of Gaëllou's amazing music, here is their official video for "Language of Kindness". I was also very touched that much of the footage used in this video was recorded at the opening reception for the exhibition...
You can purchase your own copy of this single here: "Language of Kindness"
I had also suggested to G that she model for one of my fine art images. Turns out the whole band loves my artwork and would love it if we created an album cover! G and I then started discussing a vision for the image and G mentioned she loves steampunk. Well, steampunk works perfectly with the vintage feel of my images and so we started planning...
One very special element that was included in the image was the awesome steel sculpture by Vaune Elliott. Vaune was another one of the brilliant artists from the Deep South Community Art Exhibition 2020, who had a number of awesome unique steel sculpture pieces. His work had a definite steampunk type of vide, which was perfect! It is also a heart, which I felt would match G's mission of love. I asked his permission to be able to photograph his heart sculpture (that he lovingly made for his girlfriend and is not for sale). He loved the idea of using it in one of my images and even made a stand for the piece so that it would be easier for me to photograph. How awesome is that!?
Finding steampunk goggles, a top hat, the perfect shirt and tail coat was the next mission. After lots of shopping around, the perfect outfit came together and then it was time to get G in my studio... Out of all the people I have ever photographed, G has to have been one of the easiest! Totally natural and comfortable in front of the camera.
Lastly, it was time to get the band together for headshots...
G
Gaëlle Greenwood
Vocals
Guitar
The Viking
Derek Craig
Backing vocals
Percussion & Drums
The Magic Music Maker
Kathleen Eggers
Backing vocals
Viola
The Prodigé
Grant Jackson
Backing vocals
Bass
For more information about the band and G's amazing story you can read the recent article in the False Bay Echo.
Some exciting news to add is that I recently entered the cover image into the international Portrait Masters Awards competition. It scored with distinction by 5 international grand master portrait photographers as a high professional standard.
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