Description
Photographer: Kevin Westenberg
Image details: Musik Magazine Cover shoot Cincinnati. May 3, 1997.
I certainly wasn’t expecting this shoot for Musik Magazine to be such a revelation but that was the beauty of prime time. I didn’t know much about her. Nobody did at this time, especially in UK. Her beautiful debut album had only been released a few months prior to our encounter, which was a huge draw. Having the ability to work with new artists was always a dream.
Musik started only a few years prior but had established a loyal following and was expertly art directed and funded by IPC. Helmed by Push and Ben Turner, two former Melody Maker journalists, the focus was Dance music, a whole different direction to most of the editorial I had been engaging with so it was an exciting jump into the new and unknown. I also knew in advance it was for a cover, which always brought my A game. The plan was to meet her in Cincinnati, a city I had never been to before. One perilous journey made, with our plane being struck by lightning somewhere over middle America, we landed thankfully and the planning began. Everything went better than expected! Pure joy in actual fact. It begins and ends with the subject for me.
A great subject means the location makes little difference. Here we got lucky that without any planning for location, we got extremely lucky with both. Just the right elements were here at the hotel to use as backdrops and her willing attitude and amazing demeanour meant our shoot produced dozens of memorable and usable photos that I’m still proud of to this day. One of my favourite shoots. A true angel and spiritual soul of the highest order pictured here at the pinnacle of her Baduizm neo soul period.
Archival Fine Art Pigment Print
Da Vinci Fibre Gloss Silk 310gsm Cotton Rag Paper
Available editions:
- 16x20" Edition of 25
- 20x24" Edition of 25
- 24x30" Edition of 10
- 30 x 40" Edition of 10
- 60 x 40" Edition of 3
