The Wolflight art photo story - April 2015
The Cover
Photo © www.iconphoto.ch
I'm thrilled with the extraordinary art photos for Wolflight, created by amazingly talented Maurizio and Angéla Vicedomini. The wonderful cover, which really was taken of me with wolves in front of a ruin, was magically transformed from day to night, inviting you into the mysterious world of the album. The pictures inside take you through the album's journey from darkness to light. In their own words, Maurizio and Angéla tell the story behind each of their wonderful images...
The Wolflight art photo story - by Maurizio & Angéla Vicedomini
Working for the pictures of the "Wolflight" album was a great adventure and an inspiring collaboration with Steve and Jo.
The lyrics as well as the music tell very poetical and meaningful stories, creating a fairytale and at the same time a vibrant atmosphere.
Representing each song with a single photo was a challenge which allowed us to get in touch with spiritual places, with majestic wolves and with a number of other exciting subjects.
Our first idea was to photograph wolves in their natural habitat
When Steve and Jo expressed the wish to have Steve on the cover, we tried to find a solution to have wolves and Steve together in one shot.
This was possible thanks to a friend living near Rome who owns some wolves. Steve had only one day time (in between one gig and another) to meet the wolves and take pictures. Between several photos we chose the one with Steve surrounded by wolves where the head of one of these wild animals was bent under Steve's hand in a sign of respect.
As the picture had been taken during the daytime and a night image was in the mind of Steve and Jo, we had to elaborate the photo accordingly. It was not a "simple" conversion, but a complex work that finally gave to the picture a mystic atmosphere, reminding one of an impressionist painting.
Out of the Body
Photo © www.iconphoto.ch
Steve and Jo found great inspiration in Greece, especially in the area of Delphi. In mid June 2014 we travelled with them to Greece in order to discover and photograph the Corycian Cave. Jo had anticipated to us the history and the mysticism of this place.
When we entered the cave, we were enveloped by a feeling of spirituality and mystery. We have attempted to portray these impressions with this picture, taken from the deep end of the cave towards the entrance, where Steve was standing illuminated by an unearthly light.
Wolflight
Photo © www.iconphoto.ch
This picture tries to represent the power of the music through the dynamism of the horses and the wolf.
The photo was taken in two steps, because the owner of the horses was afraid to expose the horses to the danger of the wolf.
We placed the camera and the portable studio lights and we first took shots of the horses. When they had left, the wolf entered the scene and the second picture was taken.
Love Song to a Vampire
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For this picture, we were specially inspired by this part of the lyrics:
"The door was unlocked but my heart was in jail".
The basic idea was to have a cage representing the jail. Inside the cage is a partially naked man (symbolising his vulnerability) kneeling in front of the open door of the cage.
The photo was taken in our studio. We have placed the person acting as the vampire in order to have a maximum of symmetry disrupted by the one-sided position of the open door and the prisoner.
The Wheel's Turning
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The rainy summer of 2014 made it difficult to realize this picture, but finally we succeeded to catch the atmosphere of the music and the magic of the lyrics in a night shot taken at a fun-fair.
Corycian Fire
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For this photo we were inspired by the stories that Jo told us about the myth of the cave.
The Corycian cave appears to have possessed a female oracular tradition in which women were believed to birth the children of gods or nurse the divine progeny of others. The women went up from Delphi, walking all along the mountain with torches in their hands to meet inside the cave to practice their rituals.
Our picture represents one of these rituals as described in the song in order to bring back to life the ancient women world of the cave. Jo, having a strong emotional bond to this place, was a natural choice as a model. The shooting was a special experience with Jo, as she was not acting but she definitely was one of these legendary women.
Earthshine
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The beauty of the music conveys a feeling of freedom. We have the feeling of having wings and to fly in the air to watch the world from above. The picture was taken in inspiring Sylt island
Loving Sea
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The photo represents the vibrant atmosphere of love and sea, through a dynamic and colourful shot. Taken in Mauritius at sunset with additional studio lights.
Black Thunder
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In this song Steve tells a story of slavery and breaking free. It is a complex and thorny subject. To develop this theme, we visited the ruins of slave's houses and some colonial villas, finding the inspiration to make a series of photos that together tell a small part of the dark history of slavery.
We wish to thank our friends Johnny and Isabelle for trusting us and accepting to act as slaves and wear the chains.
Dust and Dreams
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With this image, we wanted to avoid the classic vision of the desert. The idea was to have a desert plan, where footprints takes the view beyond the horizon, suggesting a scenario where everyone can dream listening to this song.
Heart Song
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The two lovers walking on the beach into the sunset are symbolizing not only the last song of this musical journey, but also the way towards a new dawn... into the future... and to the next album.
