Photographer Wolfgang Tillmans has revealed the story behind his photo that ultimately became the cover image of Frank Ocean’s 2016 album. blond,
German photographer captured the now-iconic image of Ocean standing in the shower with short green hair that appears on the cover blondThe singer appears shirtless against a background of white tiles, with water droplets glistening on his skin.
In form of smithsonian Report, The image embodies motifs often found in Tillmans’s photography, “such as sadness, intimacy, nostalgia and strangeness.”
But this picture has a deep connection with Ocean blondTillmans revealed that it was not originally intended to serve as the album’s cover.
@cur8.ldn He shot Frank Ocean’s Blonde cover and told me the whole story! I interviewed Wolfgang Tillmans for his new exhibition at the Center Pompidou in Paris, he is one of the most important photographers of his generation who is hugely influential in contemporary grotesque art! Follow if you want to discover more artists and exhibitions! #LondonArtScene #londonartist #queerart #photography #artistinterview ♬ Son Original – CUR8 – London Art Scene
In an interview last month arthur heddco-founder of CUR8Tillmans, a social app for art discovery in London and Paris, explained how he met Ossian and how the collaboration came to be. He explained that the pair were initially brought together by the team wonderful man magazine, which arranged for a special cover story for its 10th anniversary edition.
“This was originally photographed for the 10th anniversary of wonderful manAnglo-Dutch menswear culture magazine. It took a few weeks to get Frank and I together,” Tillmans tells Headed. ”We made several attempts, only for him to call at short notice. ‘Something has happened, I can’t come.’
Eventually, Ocean traveled overnight from London to Berlin to meet Tillmans for a photo shoot.
“And finally, he drove overnight from London to Berlin and arrived in the morning and suddenly was there. And we had a very productive, wonderful day of shooting,” says Tillmans.
However, wonderful man He later received a letter from Ocean’s lawyers in Los Angeles barring him from using photographs taken by Tillman for the magazine. But a year later, Tillmans was surprised to receive a call from Ocean, who asked if he could use the same image for the cover of his album. blond,
“They stopped any pictures of this set from coming out wonderful manBut a year later, they approached and said, ‘Can I use it for the cover of my next album (blondOf course, it was the summer of 2016,” says the photographer.
In addition to being a photographer, Tillmans also produces music both solo and with his band Fragile. Ocean included Tillmans’ previously unreleased track “Device Control” on his 2016 visual album endlessTillmans shared some of his music with Ocean a few weeks ago and he was surprised Listen to their tracks featured on the project.
“So I had the music on the cover of the first album and the cover of the second,” Tillmans tells Headed, reflecting on the fascinating dual role it played in Ocean’s work.
