Nothing Is Real

Being away from Uni has been confusing and knocked a little bit of the flow out of my project I think. I have taken my first holiday in ten years, but unfortunately I’d clearly timed it wrong as it was the only time The Bootleg Beatles were available for some portrait shoots. Talk about gutted! With only one more UK gig before flying out to Singapore and Australia, I just had to go and shoot some live shots with the new line up featuring Tyson Kelly as John Lennon. There was no time for portraits, no costume changes into Sgt. Peppers, but I have a few visuals of Tyson in the line up. The project hasn’t quite panned out as I’d wanted, but some things can’t be helped.

 

I will be looking to continue the project when everything has finished with the MA Film & Photography course, and will extend and build my work. I feel that if I capture some stronger studio based portraits of The Bootleg Beatles then it would really wrap things up with the project.

 

I had toyed with the idea of manipulating the portraits more in Cindy Sherman’s style, changing the way the features appear within the images. After contemplating this idea, and discussing with peers, I decided against it eventually. The features of the tribute artist needs to stay the same as it is them representing the original Beatle, rather than my photo manipulation skills to make them to appear to look more like them.

 

While researching for the project, I read in various sources that a need for nostalgia was becoming more and more necessary for the public in order to cope with times of hardship and difficulty. According to one interview in the Guardian with psychology professor Constantine Sedikides of University of Southampton: “Nostalgia compensates for uncomfortable states, for example, people with feelings of meaninglessness or a discontinuity between past and present. What we find in these cases is that nostalgia spontaneously rushes in and counteracts those things. It elevates meaningfulness, connectedness and continuity in the past. It is a vitamin and an antidote to those states. It serves to promote emotional equilibrium, homeostasis.” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/09/look-back-in-joy-the-power-of-nostalgia

 

Surely tribute bands must be the clearest and most direct link to nostalgia. A simulation of a band or event, a hyper reality of a situation designed to engage the audience longing for nostalgia.

 

 

I have also been reading a few books to understand The Beatles a little more too. I have always had an interest in the band, have a few books on them, however after watching a documentary on Eric Clapton, and his friendship and history with George Harrison and indeed Harrion’s then girlfriend, Pattie Boyd, I felt it would be good to understand the original band. I also read about Boyd’s best friend’s point of view – Chris O’Dell. O’Dell was very close to Boyd, the in’s and out’s of her relationship with George Harrison and Clapton, plus O’Dell worked for The Beatles’ own record label, Apple.

 

It was while reading O’Dell’s autobiography that realised the perfect title for my project was in fact a Beatle lyric – Nothing Is Real. Taken from Strawberry Fields Forever, and written by John Lennon, I feel that the phrase is perfect for this project. It sums up the hyper reality, simulation and spectacle which is taking place each time a tribute band takes to the stage. Nothing Is Real, but the crowds believe in it, join in, and for a brief moment they participate in an unwritten contract.

 

I have purchased the URL: Nothing-is-real.co.uk as I plan to continue this body of work after my studies at Derby University. With the website address, I have the ability of showcasing my MA studies, as well as separating it apart from my usual music photography work. As discussed with tutors before the summer, I will be displaying portraits of each band member with a panoramic print in the middle. The aim is to draw in the viewer with the large, colourful portraits, and for them to take a closer look at the panoramic. The images will be printed on aluminium (dibond), and I am hoping these will be an investment with the option of showcasing them elsewhere once the university exhibition is completed.