The Abbey Road Shoot. Photographed by Iain Macmillan. Chosen because of work he had done for Yoko. He was only given about 15 minutes to get the shot. Standing on a ladder in the road, He took only about eight pictures of the Beatles crossing in front of Abbey Road Studio while a policemen held traffic. Prior to the shoot, Paul McCartney had sketched his ideas for the cover. Macmillan added a more detailed illustration. After the shoot, McCartney studied the transparencies and chose the fifth one for the album cover. It was the only one when all four Beatles were walking in step. It also satisfied The Beatles' desire for the world to see them walking away from the studios they had spent so much of the last seven years inside.
The Beatles wanted to create a record that could, in effect, tour for them. McCartney decided that he should create fictitious characters for each band member and record an album that would be a performance by that fictitious band. The Beatles' fame motivated them to grow moustaches, and was an inspiration for the disguise of their flamboyant Sgt. Pepper costumes.McCartney was well known for going out in public in disguise and all four had used aliases for travel bookings and hotel reservations. So the character Sgt. Pepper was actually created by Paul McCartney.
The main style trend on the album cover is military, which also links in with the name of the album (Sgt. Pepper..) and the reasoning behind that. Military always seems to influence the fashion industry every year in some way, whether its colour of detail. Military green has been noted to be one of the biggest colours of the year. I researched on WGSN and found a 1940's post war trend which was inspired by the change in womens fashion, during and after the war. Women became more acceptable in trousers and working a 'mans' job which involved them wearing overalls and baggy clothes, this has inspired many trends over the years and especially urban fashion. After looking more into the military trend I noticed footwear is a big aspect of the overall look, black lace-up boots have become an essential for the military-esque look. However, I found that red is going to take a big role in the military trend this season, especially in accessories and footwear, I think this gives a great clash and hads a powerful, but feminine touch.
I aslo started to research into fashion photography and ideas that have been used involving the military theme. I really like these images as they seem very powerful and the lighting is strong and defined. The subtle hints of military seem to work better than trying to create a replica of the war, the accessories tell the story and give off the right vibe without overpowering the images.
I also looked into music videos and how the artists of today still use the military trend to express a certain feeling they are portraying. These two videos influenced the fashion industry at the time and brought the military trend back into fashion. Rihanna's 'Hard' video tends to take the military styling back to basics, with original colours and style, however, Cheryl Cole's 'Fight for this love' creates a more unique twist to the trend and as mentioned above brings colour to the mix.
I took the colour scheme from the album cover we have chosen, and I noticed that the main colours used were very bright and bold and clashed with the rest of the image. I started to research exsiting colour trends and found that these bold colours have been noted on the catwalks this year. Designers such as Jill Sanders, have used block colours to create a bright clash. I then started to look on WGSN and found similar colour palettes to the one found in our image, which have been inspired by clashing and unpredictability. I really love the words to describe the colours, such as; intoxicating, chemical and weird. I think kind of sums up the london underground scene in the sixties as it was corrupt with sex and drugs. I then started to look at online shopping websites such as ASOS and Topshop and found that these trends are now being released in stores, however I found that the bright colours where kept in the accesories and shoe departments as this seems to be more commercial for everyday shoppers. I feel we could use this colour scheme, however make it more subtle by using only hints of fusia, aqua, lime, yellow etc. in the styling, by accesories and make-up.
The inside of the album cover is a visual explosion of colour and is a good example of colour blocking. One of the biggest up and coming trends for spring/summer is bright, block, colour colour clashing. I love the neon feel to the brightness of the colours, it is a good example of Peter Blakes work as he trys to incorporate brightness with very desaturated and dull images, which is something we want to experiment with in our photography.
The image we have decided to use as our inspiration is the album cover of The Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, created by Peter Blake. We feel it is one of the most iconic images from the 60's and has lots of depth and colour we can work with. There are so many elements to the image we could use to appropriate the image such as; the colour scheme, the military styling, the flowers, the instruments, the roping and the use of colour mixed with black and white. By taking these elements and incorporating them into out styling and photography we can create images with a similar style as Peter Blake.
This photographer was mainly known for his work with The Beatles in the late sixties, with whom he became very close friends with. He spent many following years by the side, photographing them at work, rest and play.
Robert Whitaker's success with The Beatles allowed him unlimited access to the London underground scene where he witnessed the changes and impact The Beatles made on life in the sixties.
One of the more popular images by Whitaker became the cover for their album 'Yesterday and Today' it was shortly named the 'Butcher' photograph and seems very oddly styled with the broken dolls and meat placed around them.
Quirkiness could be used in our photography and styling to create an unusual edge as in the sixties The Beatles invented a new norm and we could use this edge as a new trend or fashion in today's industry.
David Bailey
Bailey became the fashion photographer for Vogue in 1960, he also began socialising with actors, musicians and royalty. Alongside Whitaker he helped create a culture of high fashion and celebrity chic and influence the swinging 60's. His freelance work involved photographing many famous people, including The Beatles. He concentrated on portraiture style shots in simple black and white film with very casual expressions.
After the shoot, McCartney studied the transparencies and chose the fifth one for the album cover. It was the only one when all four Beatles were walking in step. It also satisfied The Beatles' desire for the world to see them walking away from the studios they had spent so much of the last seven years inside.
