Circa 198?

[tango87]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I would not expect him to say anything different. This was his job. Any rock photographer who was photographing the band together for the first time in many years and releasing it to Rolling Stone of course would use heavy editing and air brushing to make it perfect. I only added the opinion part so we can move on. I had no position on this or cared about this until someone mentioned it. Then I thought it was an even more interesting photo because of it. I am not an expert by any means. But I did have a several hour forensic class on photoshops. All photos yield clues of photoshop or airbrushing. I will give the photographer credit. It is a fantastic photo. This conversation about it makes that point.

No offence meant! You're quite right, it's a great photo and presents them in a way that absolutely plays up to their mystique. And I agree that any professional photograph of the time will have been retouched or airbrushed.

The problem with this band is that they have always traded on their relationships, which has led us to the point that every image is pored over for meaning, and we end up saying it looks off because John's too far away, differently lit, and playing an upright bass, their positions seem awkward, Lindsey's over-dressed etc etc. There must be something going on! Whereas, in fact it's just a staged photo - they dressed up a bit, posed slightly uncomfortably and found a bass for John to hold.

Imagine how much more we'd have to talk about if only Stevie had turned up...