In 1938, Alex Steinweiss was hired as the art director for Columbia Records where he pioneered the idea of album artwork. Since then the format has moved from a simple piece of graphic design to an integral part of popular culture. Sadly, as the music industry has evolved, so has the sleeve. What was once a canvas for seminal LP artworks by Peter Saville and Hipgnosis has now been reduced to a small .jpg at the bottom left-hand corner of Spotify. Despite the change, album covers are still a dream project for many designers, and the field is rich with covers that are both beautiful and boundary pushing.
In the third installment of Uncovered, a regular series on The Gradient focused on the process and influences behind recent album artwork, we talk with Mr. iozo about his photographs for the recent A$AP Rocky campaign. Although his photographs were not used on the cover, his images created a considerable amount of hype for the album and pushed Rocky’s visual language into more sophisticated territory.
BONUS: Joining me in this interview is Walker photographer Bobby Rogers who asks a few questions of Mr. iozo as well. Thanks, Bobby!
Ben Schwartz (BS)
Could you begin with bit of background about yourself and your work? Much of what I’ve seen feels highly cinematic, taking place in some sort of dream state. Could you talk about the process of constructing these worlds?
Mr. iozo (Mi)
I was born in Ecuador in 1992. I go by the name Mr. iozo, and I am a director and photographer living in New York City. Most people describe my work as cinematic, but I’m not sure how I would explain it myself. I am definitely inspired by films, so it makes a lot of sense. Depending on the image, the process usually takes me around three to four weeks; it’s a matter of how much preparation and coordination the image requires. My process for ideas comes to me either by listening to a song I really like or watching a film with an intriguing story to it. Comics and video games also play a part since they have become very inspired and work within interesting themes. For the most part it comes from music and how I would visually picture a song or how I make a music video.
Bobby Rogers (BR)
You mention film and music being a large source of inspiration for your work. I find this to be true of many visual artists, and the range of inspiration is so vast amongst them all. What genre of film do you find yourself gravitating towards most? And was there a particular album or song that helped you get the creative wheels spinning when developing the concept for Testing, since you weren’t able to listen to the album beforehand?
Mi
It’s definitely a big source of inspiration for me. Any type of music, hip hop, electronic, rock, ambient, pop, etc., they all play a part in film. I’ve been really interested in sci-fi that deals with consciousness or AI being self aware, like Blade Runner or Ex-Machina. My favorite director would be Stanley Kubrick. I always try to be hyper-aware of the cinematography.
In regards to music, I would listen to a lot of Rocky’s previous work, but mostly “Canal St.” There’s a certain ego in that song which I like; I could imagine him on a pedestal against all odds.
BS
How did you get involved with the A$AP Rocky campaign?
Mi
My friend Hidji, who ended up becoming part of AWGE as an artist and director, showed Rocky my work, and Rocky just wanted to meet me, which alone had me on cloud nine.
BS
What were initial conversations like with A$AP Rocky regarding the shoot? Was there any particular inspiration or references discussed? Had you heard the album beforehand?
Mi
Rocky gave me the blueprint for the idea of the crash test dummy concept, and I was really intrigued because of how different it felt. It was something I knew I could visually work with. In terms of inspiration, they showed me a lot of vintage crash test footage and a mood board. I began directing myself from that—sketching camera angles, setup, lighting, etc. I had not heard the album, so I really had no idea what the theme of the album was lyrically, So I mostly had to go with a visual style and a small story within the shoot itself.
The way I painted it, for example, when Rocky is on a pile of dummies in one of the images I wanted it to represent how he is above all other rappers. Another shot, in the “dummy lab,” is about how he is visually manufacturing these other rappers or artists by inspiring them—how he is the scientist creating them. There are other details like that throughout the series in that create more meaning behind them.
BS
Could you expand a bit on that idea of narrative? Do the photos add up to a story?
Mi
Originally I had a deeper story to the images. I wanted to make them very political, speaking directly to the current status of America. For example, I wanted the wall that the car crashed into to have a giant American flag on it. In the driver seat is Rocky, passenger seat a dummy dressed as a woman with a blindfold to represent Lady Justice, and in the background caucasian scientists with blonde hair and blue eyes writing on notepads. I wanted to create the narrative that they were testing Rocky and black culture in America, testing the justice system. However, having listened to the album when it was released I was actually very glad we did not take that approach since the album is not very political. It would have made no sense visually.
BS
Right, without hearing the music, working with more abstract ideas seems smart. Now, looking back, the listener is able to instill their own meaning or narrative into the photos: A$AP vs. other artists, A$AP and sonic experimentation, etc.
Switching gears a bit, I want to talk about some of the aesthetic details of the photos. To start, the lighting is stunning, a sort of psychedelic-meets-neo-noir, which, to me, is a perfect complement to the music. Was there a particular effect you were trying to achieve with the high-contrast technicolor?
Mi
My work, besides just being known for its overall vibe and setting, is largely defined by the way I direct lighting. It definitely has become a stylistic signature. I knew I wanted a neo-noir feel on some images, as it is a style I feel very familiar with, but for the most part I tried to steer as much as I could away from neon. On several photos I wanted to capture a “vintage” style, some of what was seen in the references. I knew the album was about testing new sounds, so aside from that concept, I wanted the images to exist in their own world in a more contained setting.
BS
Another interesting stylistic element is the extreme lens flairs. It’s a move that could easily be mishandled, but in this particular context adds to the surreal atmosphere you created.
Mi
The lens flare was something I showed Rocky in one of our meetings and he loved it. I wanted to show the jewelry Rocky carries, showcase it and bring it out as a notorious accessory rather than just let the diamonds fade in the background of the image.
BS
Could you talk about the actual shoot. When and where did it happen? What did you shoot with? Who made up the rest of the team?
Mi
The shoot you see on my website was done in three separate sessions: one in November, the next one in December (both in NY), and the final one in California in January at a testing facility. I was shooting with a Canon Mark IV, but I should make it clear that the type of camera you have does not make an image (I only got the Mark IV in October last year and before that I would shoot with a 40D). It’s all about how you picture an image rather than the equipment itself.
The first two sessions were just me and my lighting assistant. The last session was the same team plus a couple of PAs and Happy Place producing the whole setup. So it was definitely bigger on scale. Both shoots took a long time. Because Rocky was busy, we shot overnight, like 10 pm to 4 am. I would have to work the next morning having gotten no sleep. It was pretty wild, but cool nonetheless. The third session in California was the longest. It went from 2 pm to 12 midnight, and we still wanted to shoot more. There were still some images I didn’t get to shoot because we ran out of time with location.
BS
With A$AP Rocky’s work in the fashion world, I’m curious about the creative input he provided?
Mi
He definitely came with a lot of outfits for the shoot, I wasn’t aware at the time, but he had it all planned out for each setup. For example, with the testing lab he wears all white, and it came across to me as a swagged-out scientist. He had a lot of input on what he wanted to wear. Most of the shots though I really wanted him in that signature “Flacko” suit he got for Testing. I felt like that outfit could become iconic and could also make the images feel more believable in terms of setting and concept.
BS
I understand some of the reason behind the name Testing was A$AP Rocky’s desire to experiment with new sounds, a desire to “collide” unexpected genres. Did this affect the shoot at all? Did you find yourself experimenting or testing out new techniques?
Mi
I didn’t really test anything on set, mostly because I wanted to come fully prepared. However, before the shoots happened with Rocky, I was testing visually with the flare… the colors and lighting in my personal work, which would eventually be incorporated into the things I would shoot with him.
BS
I was disappointed that none of the photos from these shoots didn’t get chosen for a cover. If you could choose one, which would you have selected?
Mi
I would choose this for the cover:
and this for the back cover:
I feel like the image (of A$AP Rocky standing on the car) would have been a great cover considering the nature of the album, the concept, and just the overall vibe. The pairing, front and back, fits well with the overall structure of the album. The front cover reflects the first half of the album since those tracks feel very gritty and heavy. The fact that he is showing raw emotion, and there is a broken window and dummy, all reflect that energy. The back cover feels very dreamy, and even hazier considering the fact that he is smoking… which fits nicely with the more mellow second half of Testing.
BR
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to other photographers who would want to follow in your footsteps and hopefully shoot with an artists like A$AP Rocky one day?
Mi
I strongly believe that what you see is what your memory portrays in some shape or form. I feel like a big issue in photography today is the proliferation of “Instagram photographers.” A lot of young photographers follow them and eventually end up ripping them off. Just because a photographer has 200K–900K followers doesn’t mean they are actually good or create compelling visuals, for that matter. I eventually unfollowed all those people and decided to start from zero, finding inspiration in other places and creating what I wanted to create by experimenting with the camera. I never went to school for photography, and I am not someone who geeks out over technical aspects. Really, it’s about picturing your images and taking the time to find inspiration.
Focus on quality over quantity, try to be original, and experiment with the camera. Shoot what you want how you want, and find your style. Being different does not always get picked up immediately, but if people like it they will gravitate towards it. Really, you can’t give up. If you want people to believe in your work then you have to believe in it first.
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