(March 2022)
Elton John is, without a doubt, my favorite musician of all time. I've loved his songs since I was a child, and only grew more appreciation for them as I got older. On top of that, his overall aesthetic of bright colors, highly detailed costumes, and sometimes downright bizarre additions to his brand had always been incredibly appealing to me. It's like the wildest parts of his imagination came to life! With this series of images, I wanted to capture that detailed, imaginative aesthetic. I featured three of my favorite albums of his: Madman Across the Water (left), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (center), and the Rocketman movie soundtrack (right). I know the Rocketman movie's soundtrack is sung mostly by Taron Egerton, but I still included it because it covers so many of Elton John's best songs, and it's from a biopic based on the life of Elton John. Each image was done entirely digitally, based on actual images of Elton John himself (except the Rocketman movie album), broken down to simple outlines and hard-edged shadows and highlights. I wanted to include references to the many songs featured in the albums, including Tiny Dancer, Bennie and the Jets, Candle in the Wind, Rotten Peaches, and of course, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.