Andy Earl’s memories of photographing Prince, Madonna and Johnny Cash

About this episode

Andy Earl reflects on his experiences photographing iconic musicians and the evolution of photography from analogue to digital.

Andy Earl helped create the new dawn of colour photography in the ‘80s pop video age and went on to shoot a series of unforgettable portraits, album sleeves and magazine covers, many featuring in his new exhibition in Bankside Yards, London. He looks back here at some of his subjects and the analogue days when you flew halfway round the world for the right light and backdrop and every prop in the picture was real. Along with …   … that controversial BowWowWow shoot and how he got the job   … Johnny Cash in a cornfield near Melbourne and the dogs he called “Hell” and “Redemption”   … Duran Duran (and a mysterious nun) in Sri Lanka   … “my job was to create a look”   … why the age of digital photography brought a loss of control   … the Robbie Williams Life Thru a Lens “law court” shoot   … “he couldn’t have been more eccentric”: Prince in Monte Carlo and the confiscated camera   … Pink Floyd’s Delicate Sound of Thunder for Hipgnosis: where Dali met Magritte   … “in Monument Valley with a truckload of giant prosthetic eyeballs”: the Cranberries’ Bury the Hatchet cover   … how covers changed when the CD arrived    … and…

People in this episode

Hosts: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, Alex Gold

Guest: Andy Earl

Topics covered

• photography
• music history
• portraiture
• 80s pop culture
• analogue vs digital
• exhibitions

Keywords

• Andy Earl
• photography
• Prince
• Madonna
• Johnny Cash
• 80s
• album covers
• exhibition
• Bankside Yards

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bankside Yards, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Hipgnosis, Cranberries

Places: Melbourne, Sri Lanka, Monaco

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