Less than ten years ago, I compiled a list of favorite songs I listened to in the darkroom; now I listen to them while working on images from my digital camera in Photoshop. There’s something special about photography and music.
It seems like photographers are disproportionately interested in music. I know I am. And, not surprisingly, many musicians have written or performed songs about pictures and photography.
This week, PDN listed its very subjective Top 20 Songs About Photography. They’re not the first. Photoshelter has a Top Ten list, as do our friends at SportsShooter. Naturally, their lists inspired yet another one.
Based on the three lists above (yes, I know. There are many more out there) and my own music collection, here are my ten, some of which are well known, but a few are a bit out there…
1. Kodachrome by Paul Simon (It's on every list, but now it's also ironic)
2. Freeze Frame by J. Geils Band (Dig that motor drive!)
3. Photograph by Ringo Starr (An anthem!)
4. I Am A Camera by The Buggles (They also did “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the first music video played on MTV)
5. Photographs and Memories by Jim Croce (A whistful folk song about photography, basically)
6. Picture Perfect by Angela Via (My kids love this one)
7. Carnival by Natalie Merchant (The music video, which is in black-and-white, shows her wandering the streets taking pictures with a Leica rangefinder!)
8. Hey Ya by Outkast (“Shake it like a Polaroid picture”)
9. Black & White World by Elvis Costello (Not really about photography but the title works for me)
10. F-Stop Blues by Jack Johnson (Really about photography and the title works for me)
This just scratches the surface. I didn’t, for example, list Billy Connoly’s “You Take My Photograph, I Break Your Face" which is oddly appropriate for Paparazzi. (or, for that matter, Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” or Paul McCartney’s “The World Tonight,” in which he sings “I saw you hiding from a flock of Paparazzi”).
There are several songs named “Photograph” besides Ringo’s, by Def Leppard, Verve Pipe, Ghoul, R.E.M and Blue Rodeo according to Frivolous Photography-Photo Songs. And the musical styles can match every taste, from Randy Travis’s country “Old 8x10” to the Beastie Boys’ rap “Picture This.”
As for favorite music to work to, all I can say is photographers’ tastes are All Over The Place (coincidentally, that’s the name of the Bangles’ first album). In the late '80s, I visited a well-known Sports Illustrated photographer’s Upper West Side studio and he was grooving to “Wild Thing” by Tone Loc while photographing a local sports hero. I’ve heard of a certain war photographer who would play the soundtrack from “Apocalypse Now” to “get in the mood” before going out to photograph a conflict. Me? I listen to WNEW.com and WCBS-FM on iTunes radio—pretty tame.
What are your favorite songs about photography? What kind of music do you listen to while you’re shooting, or working on your digital images in Photoshop (or even—gasp—while you’re working in the darkroom)?
