Kid Creole

Kid Creole

aka August Darnell

I got the assignment to photograph Kid Creole for ZE Records. Tony Wright, the art director had discovered me through my B52s photos. He designed the Bs first cover with my pre-existing photo.

When Tony gave me the assignment to shoot Kid Creole and 23 other people, some musicians and some celebreties, he wanted to go the Bronx Botanical Gardens for the session. i saw a huge logistical problem and getting permission from the Gardens wasn’t the biggest. I couldn’t imagine getting so many people to show up in the Bronx at one time.

So…I rented a jungle from Modern Artificial, a company that rented plastic plants. Then I had seen a painted backdrop by Charles Broderson that looked like an erupting volcano.

When so many people showed up in my studio, I knew that I would put 12 people on the front cover and 11 people on the back cover (continued)

Kid Creole

There were so many people that I had to stand on a ladder and blow a whistle to get them all to stop chatting and look at the camera at the same time.

I think Tony Wright, the art director was amazed that I pulled off this shoot at all. We went on to do dozens of covers together.

Here is a shot I did many years later in August Darnell’s apartment. I did a shot with my Hasselblad, but my strobe didn’t fire and I realized that the music sheet holder on the piano was up and I should put it down. Wanting to save a frame of film, I removed the film back, recocked the shutter and did a second shot. I didn’t think that the first shot had made any exposure at all.

To my surprise, I got a double exposure. Some of my best shots are accidents…