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Badassity Client Story: Musician Carey Farrel

I love photographing musicians! You get to focus on a wider range of expressive vibe, play with literal “reality,” and break more rules! The badassity is more out loud.

Carey Anne Farrell is a Chicago singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with a mezzo-soprano voice, sweet melodies, and thoughtful lyrics. Think Dar Williams, Aimee Mann, or Chrissie Hynde.

Carey also plays the trombone in Clamor and Lace Noise Brigade, a glam street marching band composed solely of people of marginalized genders. Interesting!

In short, Carey’s a badass musician, writer, and human being.

I wanted to capture two dimensions of Carey — the glam, transgressive trombone-playing Carey, as well as the reflective inner dimension of her songwriting and guitar. So we planned for two separate photo sessions.

Glam
First, I chose the grungy, instantly-identifiable Chicago el tracks to contrast with the glam wardrobe and trombone of her work with Clamor and Lace. (Even a woman playing a trombone carries a hint of transgression, doesn’t it?) Juxtaposing bold oppositions ( in this case, glam vs. grunge) creates a bold image that’s more than the sum of its parts.

The vibe was to be big, brash, and in your face. In this image I exaggerated the diagonal point of view of the camera to cross the trombone slide and the el tracks. Is it a unification of the two? Or a duel? The fun thing about these more expressive images is you can leave such questions unanswered.

Soul
For Carey’s singer/songwriter dimension we went into a dark studio, and I lit her with deep shadows for an air of mystery and depth. (Yes, Rembrandt’s a big inspiration for me. I love the sense of the subject emerging out of unknowable darkness.)

Carey brought her guitar, and we played with how she relates to her music through this physical embodiment. Carey found the perfect gesture, actually obscuring part of her face with the neck of the guitar. (Again, a hint of ultimate unknowability.) Just a simple, stunning image that says so much about her. And implies even more.

Here’s a question for you: What’s the most badass album cover you’ve ever seen? Leave a comment and a screenshot !

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