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Monday, July 2, 2012

Ralph Gibson and the (proto) Goths

Hi folks I'm back again!
Hope you're all OK hiding your precious white skin from the sun...

Here we go again...

Ralph Gibson is an acclaimed American photographer, born in Los Angeles in 1939.
He became famous for his black & white surreal and often erotic photographies and his best known to our tribe (!), work is this picture from the "The Somnambulist" series, shot in 1970.





















I'm sure you recognized it , especially if you are Joy Division fans as
it appeared in  the inner sleeve of  the "Unknown Pleasures" LP in 1979.

















The sleeve was designed by a young then designer named Peter Saville, who started as
a clumsy collaborator of Tony Wilson's Factory only to become through his innovations
with record sleeves one of the most important and influential graphic designers of the 1980's.
The photographer is though not credited anywhere...

In 1983 this same picture was used as a processed faded image on the back sleeve
of the March Violets 12" "Crow Baby" (Rebirth RB1812) - but not on the 7"!




















You can still see it on the (brilliant) March Violets actual website http://www.marchviolets.co.uk/imagegallery/
as a purple decorative detail on the right.
If you're in the mood for more of Ralph Gibson's work, visit his great site:
http://www.ralphgibson.com/

Stay tuned for more gothic curiosities...


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