SEATTLE — When Oregon-based photographer David Alexander came to Seattle to talk about his new book "Pictures of Time," Evening photog and vinyl record collector Kevin Ely surprised him with a blast from his past.
“Whoa! Old friends of mine!” Alexander exclaimed.
These "old friends" are albums by James Taylor, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, Steve Miller, The Eagles, some of the many artists whose album covers Alexander shot in the '70s.
There's one thing he did with every rock star he photographed:
"It was all about trying to find, create some interaction that would, they'd reveal something true about themselves,” he said.
Like when James Taylor showed up to shoot the cover of his 1977 album "JT."
“And James says 'You know, there's an idea I've always wanted to do for an album cover.' We said, ‘Cool, what's that?' He said, 'A black and white portrait that's sort of lit like the old Hollywood portraits.' We said, ‘Fabulous, let's do it,’ and this is how this picture came to be,” Alexander said, holding up the iconic black and white portrait of James Taylor that he shot.
But the real story of this shoot is hidden inside the album. James Taylor also squeezed his 6 foot plus frame into a tiny inch plexiglass box to get the one-of-a-kind shot of him curled up on one of the album’s record sleeves.
“He was squished and then he'd say 'Get me outta here!’ and we'd push him out,” Alexander said.
It was Alexander who turned a well-known Hollywood hangout into the Hotel California for the Eagles.
'It's the Beverly Hills Hotel,” he said. "I photographed it 60 feet above the ground in a cherry picker."
He remembers getting the cover for "Footloose and Fancy Free" during a walk with Rod Stewart in the Hollywood Hills.
“There was this moment, the sun was setting it was right behind him, so I’m shooting directly into the sun, and that's why he's got that sunset colored glow around him," Alexander said.
Seattle's Steve Miller improvised with a flashlight for a shot on the record sleeve inside the album "Abracadabra."
"This is amazing, this should have been the cover. Steve, he drew that guitar, he drew those notes with the flashlight,” explained Alexander, who captured it all with a long exposure and a strobe.
This photographer turns his lens in a different direction in his new book, "Pictures in Time."
"It's the reason I left this amazing, fun, lucrative work - 'Pictures of Time' is seeing life, it's seeing how life works."
Now instead of rock stars, Alexander shoots faded flowers, shared shapes and human nature. Finding beauty in things that at first glance are not beautiful.
Alexander's latest photos may not be multiplatinum album covers - but they're still Long Play.
“I've been doing this for 58 years, and the more I see, the more I see, the more there is to see,” Alexander said.
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