Kanye West needs no introduction. Having released eight studio albums — all of which have debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 — and started his own fashion line, West’s accomplishments rack up by the year.
But every artist needs to sell albums. And the album art, or cover photo, is key to giving the sound a visual identity consonant with its music and its message — who else remembers the infamous plain “Yeezus” album cover from 2013? In fact, it can be argued, that today’s streaming services make the cover art even more important, as that’s the visual that plays alongside each stream of every track on the album.
That explains why artists and record labels tend to spend much thought and invest in high-powered professionals to define the concept of an album and to decide on the correct photo to grace the album cover.
But West — a genre-defying figure in many ways — has surprised us all by taking a different path for his newest album, “ye”. According to his wife, Kim Kardashian West, Kanye himself took the photo that ended up being the cover for the album on his way to the album listening party. But, get this — he took the photo with his iPhone!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjfEPx6FPf1/
What does this mean for photographers? To me, this is a testament to the ubiquity of phone cameras; we can take and “develop” a photo in an instant, with a device that is never more than a few feet away from us. But remember, however powerful today’s iPhone camera is — and it is! — this photo will almost never be displayed more than a few inches wide.
Also, the argument can be made that an artist of Kanye’s stature and skill would be able to take an album platinum even without any cover photo (i.e. “Yeezus”). So, taking the photo with an iPhone right before the record’s release doesn’t really say anything about the need for professionals for albums coming from everyone else (who aren’t Kanye).
Lastly, and ultimately, as far as I’m concerned, the photo is a snapshot. It doesn’t show concept, it doesn’t show technique, it doesn’t tell a story. Does it look bad? No. Does it look good? Not especially. Does that matter? Not for this album.
The bottom line is that if you are Kanye West you can get away with using a snapshot for your album cover. But to everyone else out there, a photographer can be a great asset.
