A tribute to Storm Thorgerson

The blog you're reading right now wasn't meant to be "just" a place for obituaries.  But lately, it seems, there have been too many deaths involving too many key figures in music -- both performers and those behind the scenes -- to ignore.

Storm Thorgerson is among the great names in the music world.  Again -- just like with the recent death of producer/engineer Andy Johns -- you might not know the name unless you're a die-hard audiophile who's spent a lot of time looking at album covers, checking out the credits, and you see certain names repeatedly.

Thorgerson -- a part of the graphic design studio Hipgnosis -- died Thursday at age 69 of complications from cancer.  He had been battling health issues since suffering a stroke in 2003.

Thorgerson was a unique artist, which helped him to fit in well at Hipgnosis.  Photographers (like me) have greatly appreciated his work through many years of looking at album covers and jackets.  It didn't involve "typical" photography.  It was work that you could sit in front of and examine for the entire time it would take to listen to the music that went along with it.  It was mind-bending ... just like a lot of the music that went along with it.

Thorgerson and music.  It was a perfect match.

Thorgerson himself said it best.

"I like photography because it is a reality medium, unlike drawing which is unreal. I like to mess with reality ... to bend reality. Some of my works beg the question of is it real or not?"

 Now's a good time to remember just some of Thorgerson's art, and some of the music that went with it.  What a legacy he's leaving behind.  Wish he was here.