I have always had a fascination with process color. When I first got into photography, the only option you had in a home darkroom was B&W, but then along came Cibachrome and we could easily produce color prints from slides. The process was fundamentally a CMYK dye destruction process. That’s not what’s important, the important part is you could adjust the image using CMY adjustments on the color enlarging head. This was my first lesson in the subtractive color model. Later in life I would have lots of opportunities to work with 4 color press projects and I have always loved it.
I also have a fascination with the punk and post-punk music that grew out of the working class angst in Europe. One of my favorite bands is “Joy Division” led by front man, Ian Curtis. Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and depression, committed suicide on 18 May 1980, on the eve of Joy Division’s first North American tour, resulting in the band’s dissolution and the subsequent formation of New Order. Curtis was known for his baritone voice, dance style, and songwriting filled with imagery of desolation, emptiness and alienation.
In 2011, Rhino UK released an album titled, “TOTAL from Joy Division to New Order.” I was drawn to the cover art
That became the inspiration for my this T3 Project piece which combines my interest in 4-color process and the idea behind the album cover.