"Mirage" album cover backstory - Page 3

**mylittledemon** · #31 11-20-2003, 11:52 PM

Actually the picture I attached is not the full shot. In the upper right hand corner is an embossed (that means raised) lettering of the Fleetwood Mac logo. The lettering is precisely the way the Mirage album font looks. Also in the lower right corner are embossed penguins whispering to one another. Much like the ones from the 1975 album.

jwys_soapbox · #32 11-21-2003, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sodascouts
That "old lady" thing is a stretch, if you ask me. A clever but unlikely conceit.

All I can say to that is... remember the title is MIRAGE. Is it not out of place for the cover artist to sneak a little optical illusion onto the cover of something so titled?

John

Vianna · #33 11-21-2003, 07:29 AM

Never knew all this about the cover shot for Mirage but it's always been my favorite cover.

I can see the resemblance between it and the Law and Order cover.

Does anybody know anything about the pic on the back of Mirage? That's always been a favorite of mine too-love the silhouettes...

#34 11-21-2003, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Josh2003
I've seen the face before, but after seeing John's outline, I was shocked at how much that looks like the famous "Young Girl/Old Woman" optical illusion.

See for your self:

And now John's again so you can see the similarities:

Weird.

I'm having a hard time seeing the "young woman" in the Mirage illusion. does anyone else see it? i've been squinting (helps) for five minutes but it's not working.

#35 11-21-2003, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vianna
Never knew all this about the cover shot for Mirage but it's always been my favorite cover.

I can see the resemblance between it and the Law and Order cover.

Does anybody know anything about the pic on the back of Mirage? That's always been a favorite of mine too-love the silhouettes...

i never knew about it either....what's the "pic on the back of Mirage"? are you talking about the cd? i actually don't have it....the lp has mick and john on the back and only Lindey, Stevie and Chris on the front. Maybe they used Lindsey's painting of the band (as seen on the lp insert w/lyrics) as the back on the cd?
I haven't really seen that cd in a while. Need to get it.

jwys_soapbox · #36 11-21-2003, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by joe
I'm having a hard time seeing the "young woman" in the Mirage illusion. does anyone else see it? i've been squinting (helps) for five minutes but it's not working.

I have never heard any discussion of a young woman--just the old lady with the hood. The antique images that you quoted in your message have both a profile of an old woman (with a big face) and a young lady as you'd see her face from looking over her shoulder. The mirage cover has a "mirage" of an old woman if you compare the outline to the portion of the mirage cover to the left of the outline.

John

ricohv · #37 11-21-2003, 06:45 PM

I like that artwork of the band in a way but it looks too 80's new wavey for that album. I love the cover as it is. If it were going to have an "era" feel to the cover I think for Mirage it would have had to have been a 50's look instead of the (although current at the time!) early 80's look of that picture. It would be cool to know how all the album covers were conceived and possible alternate covers that didn't make it. Like the original Bella Donna that was some sort of double exposed image of Stevies head or something-I think she said it was supposed to represent the two sides of her (and then I'm sure she said what the 2 sides were-at least what they were for that day or that interview). Then she had the dream of the image that became the album cover.
Not too fond of the RAL outtake/alternate cover shoot photos. I think that pic on or near the back of Enchanted w 'Stevie w/ the black lacquered rocking chair and baby rocker are from that
shoot. (I'm not in love with the real cover either tho, her head looks distorted, if I remember right that makes her teeth look a little crooked, and I didn't like how around that time you could tell a lot of her pics were altered. You could almost see the exacto knife slicing off the pounds. OSOTM front cover pose definately has some of that too!

dissention · #38 11-21-2003, 06:53 PM

I can't believe for one second that the Mac intentionally did this with their hands. It's too far-fetched!

jwys_soapbox · #39 11-21-2003, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dissention
I can't believe for one second that the Mac intentionally did this with their hands. It's too far-fetched!

But they don't have to do anything with their hands. Any decent artist would be able to do a realistic matte painting over their real hands, for example. Such a feat is easy to do with a computer program like PhotoShop and just because they didn't have such technology available then doesn't mean the same effect couldn't be done. It just means it would take more time and use different media to get the same result.

Give me one more concrete example on that album of the mirage theme. They're hard to come by.

John

dissention · #40 11-21-2003, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jwys_soapbox
But they don't have to do anything with their hands. Any decent artist would be able to do a realistic matte painting over their real hands, for example. Such a feat is easy to do with a computer program like PhotoShop and just because they didn't have such technology available then doesn't mean the same effect couldn't be done. It just means it would take more time and use different media to get the same result.

Give me one more concrete example on that album of the mirage theme. They're hard to come by.

John

Sorry, I just don't think that the Mac was very conscious of what kinds of symbols their hands were making during that shoot. Regardless if the effect could be done, it wasn't done back then for the album. It's just a little trivia item that has been blown into some secret message that it isn't.

Lindsey: Stevie, let's clasp our hands for the next pose.
Stevie: Ohmigod! I can see Melacine in our hands!

jwys_soapbox · #41 11-22-2003, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dissention
Sorry, I just don't think that the Mac was very conscious of what kinds of symbols their hands were making during that shoot. Regardless if the effect could be done, it wasn't done back then for the album. It's just a little trivia item that has been blown into some secret message that it isn't.

Lindsey: Stevie, let's clasp our hands for the next pose.
Stevie: Ohmigod! I can see Melacine in our hands!

Hah ha funny, but you didn't read what I wrote! The technique I am speaking of is called RETOUCHING. Do a search for George Hurrell, the guy who took the photo, and I'm sure you'll find a lot of commentary about his retouching of photos--not that he practiced hiudden imagery by and large--just that he was skilled in "touching up" photos after they were taken. What lies in the shadows of a work of art are often as important as what is shown in the light. To make a scenerio as you did, I propose the following exchange...

FM MEMBER: Great photo shoot, Mr. Hurrell
HURRELL: Thank you.
FM MEMBER: By the way, you know the album we're doing is going to be called "Mirage." Is it at all possible to add a little mirage to the finished photo?
HURRELL: Well, I suppose I can try something with retouching.
FM MEMBER: Well if it works, it'll have many of our fans scratching their heads for decades to come... and the rest will be history.

John (with a hidden moan of pleasure in the middle of his name--"Oh"--ha ha)

Johnny Stew · #42 11-22-2003, 12:21 AM

It may just be purely coincidental (like the 'Dark Side Of The Moon'/'Wizard Of Oz' connection), or it may have been intentional.
Either way, it's pretty fascinating that you can see the illusion of an old woman in Lindsey & Stevie's hands.

Of course, I've always felt the true "mirage" depicted on the cover, was that of Lindsey and Stevie in a lovers' embrace, years after they had broken up and their relationship had dissolved into acrimony!

Josh2003 · #43 11-22-2003, 02:15 AM

I don't think that the "young woman" can be seen in the cover photo. I was just reminded of that illusion when I saw the outline that John had made.

darklinensuit · #44 11-22-2003, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dissention
It's just a little trivia item that has been blown into some secret message that it isn't.

Lindsey: Stevie, let's clasp our hands for the next pose.
Stevie: Ohmigod! I can see Melacine in our hands!

If you hold the old woman at a certain angle, you can see a tattoo that reads "I am the Walrus Witch."

- Jake

**mylittledemon** · #45 11-22-2003, 03:51 PM

I agree with Johnny Stew about the cover more than there being an actual "mirage" or hidden image there. The image of the woman and or the old man's face are WAY TOO vague. They are barely even visible. I know thats the concept of a mirage, but even that is the case with this cover, they would've made the hidden image a little more decipherable.

PS. the original piece which I own was only one of several concepts for the album cover. I was also told there was one involving a picture of earth ala "Eyes of the World" that never made it. So at least we know of 3 different ideas for the cover. There could've been several more.