According to US superstar Taylor Swift, her fifth studio album, titled 1989, was inspired by ‘listening to a lot of late ’80s pop. I really loved the chances they were taking, how bold it was’. It was originally released on 27 October 2014, by Big Machine Records, and saw Swift switching her musical direction from country to mainstream pop music.
The album was titled after Swift’s birth year, mainly to signify her symbolic artistic rebirth, and was supported by seven singles, including three US Billboard Hot 100 number ones – Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood.
The fact that Swift named 1989 after her birth year also tends to corroborate the influence of 1980s synth-pop on the record. As creative director, Swift insisted the record’s packaging included pictures taken with a Polaroid instant camera – a photographic method that was significantly more popular in her birth year of 1989 than in the year of the album’s release, 2014, in the age of smartphone cameras and digital images on social media.
The alleged inspiration of the musical work of Peter Gabriel also seems fitting as, like Gabriel with his 1980 album Peter Gabriel III (aka ‘Melt’), Swift chose to depict herself on the cover by using a Polaroid image as the main visual. In addition, similarly to what Gabriel and his art creatives Hipgnosis did on the cover of the ‘Melt’ album, she made the artistic decision of not showing the whole of her face.
Cut-off head
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140 years of change
AP has become the world’s oldest surviving consumer photo magazine because we have moved with the times, says Nigel Atherton
Preserving history in platinum
A deep dive into the meticulous art of platinum printing, and the collaboration between the Royal Geographical Society and Salto Ulbeek. Mike Crawford explores how they brought historical photographs to life with enduring beauty and precision
Life in the past lane
What was life like for an amateur photographer in 1884? John Wade takes a trip back in time
Choice cuts
How many trillions of photographs must have been taken in the past 140 years? Amy Davies asked some of our regular contributors for their favourites....a difficult task, to say the least
How good a camera can you buy for just £140?
Three members of the AP team see what they can find for the money
Round Five: The Best of the Rest
The APOY judges choose their favourite images that didn’t make the top ten of our Landscapes category
Amateur Photographer of the Year
Here are the top ten images uploaded to Photocrowd from Round Five, Landscapes, with comments by the AP team and our guest judge
FILM STARS A lifetime of landmarks
Cameras that hit the headlines between then and now. John Wade is your guide
140 years of Amateur Photographer
As AP celebrates its 140th birthday next month, Nigel Atherton looks back at its glorious past
John Wade considers...World War II: Home Front 1940, by A.J O'Brien
Say the word 'Wall's' to those of a certain age and two things spring to mind: sausages and ice cream.