⭐𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐕 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑⭐

You may like it or not, but with the upcoming Placebo album, we can see some of the newest band’s images distorted one way or another. But it’s not the first time Placebo go for unusual visual effects, is it?

Photo credits: Nadav Kander (2005); Kander’s notes - Jake Hicks Photography / edit by Olga

Today, I want to talk to you about 𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐯 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, a prominent photographer whose pictures are behind a brilliant artwork for 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒: the album and singles’ covers became doubtlessly recognizable and truly iconic. (Here, we must not forget a digital artist Antony Crossfield as well!)
On Nadav Kander’s Instagram account, there’s an image used for the 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 single cover with the following words:
📢 “Always loved working with the band Placebo. I was just thinking of Brian Molko so posted this. He’s always thinking about what’s next. How we can push this further.” (𝑁𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑣 𝐾𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝐼𝐺, 𝑁𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 3𝑟𝑑, 2018)

Now, I’d like to pay your attention to probably less known series of photographs for 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒 taken by 𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐯 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. Placebo let his distinctive personal style be revealed in those images to the full – which is a great sign of respect for the artist.

Widely regarded as one of the finest photographers of our time, 𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐕 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 is renowned for his uncompromising and evocative images which cut to the heart of the human condition.

“𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅. 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍. 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆. 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒙𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌; 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏.” – Nadav Kander

Photo credit: Nadav Kander

🔸Nadav Kander is a London-based photographer, artist and director, known for his portraiture and landscapes. Kander has produced a number of books and had his work exhibited widely. He received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2015, and won the Prix Pictet award.

🔸Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, when he was two, his parents moved the family to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he would remain for the rest of his childhood.

🔸Kander’s introduction to the possibilities of photography came during his formative years through his father, an airline pilot who had purchased an Iconoflex and captured hundreds of photos of the family’s road trips. At the age of thirteen, Kander purchased his first camera.

🔸He left school in his late teens, and, as was mandated for all white male citizens in South Africa, was drafted into national service. He chose the airforce and was fortunate enough to be employed in a darkroom, printing aerial photographs. It was here that his ambition to become a photographer was truly established.

Photo credit: Nadav Kander

🔸In 1981, then aged 21, Nadav Kander left for London where his photography career began in earnest.
Renowned for his portraiture, he has photographed some of the most prominent figures from across art, sport and politics. The series entitled Obama’s People includes fifty-two portraits of the (then) President and his most trusted staff and members of the administration.

🔸Kander is best known for his Yangtze - The Long River series, for which he earned the Prix Pictet Prize. Dense architecture gives way to mountains in the upper reaches towards the river's Tibetan source. The photographs are dominated by immense architectural structures where humans are shown as small in their environment. Figures are dwarfed by landscapes of half completed bridges and colossal Western-style apartment blocks that are rapidly replacing traditional Chinese low-rise buildings and houseboats.

🔸Nadav Kander’s works are now held in the permanent collections of, amongst others, The National Portrait Gallery, in London; Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Photography and, The Art Gallery of New South Wales.
(𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠: 𝑊𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟)

You can see more of Nadav Kander’s work on his website:
https://www.nadavkander.com/

Post by Olga