Lifework: Norman Parkinson’s Century of Style
1 March – 12 May, free
Oh, people, you really must click on that link. I don't want to snatch the photo at that link for fear of copyright violation, but a black-and-white image by Norman Parkinson is obviously the photo from which the artwork on the cover of The Aviator's Wife was based. So the cover is, in fact, an image of a model. I absolutely love the photo and cover image, but find it a bit
©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
Interesting - I had no idea! The author has no control over cover art, and I'm always pleased with the magic of the Random House Art Department. I surmise that the decision to use this kind of art, rather than a photo of Anne, was because the image of the woman is soft and obscure, which lends itself better to novels; we obviously didn't want anyone to think this was a biography or nonfiction book, which might have been the case had we used a real photo. It's important to make the distinction that this is a novel. But again, thanks for this link!
ReplyDeleteMelanie Benjamin
Melanie,
DeleteI thought it was a strange choice to use a tall, skinny model when the book is based on the life of a very short (but definitely thin) woman whose name is still recognizable. I can see what you mean, though, that a cover that doesn't portray the real Anne might be designed to distinguish the book from nonfiction. Having seen the black and white photo, now, I must admit I'm very impressed with the artist's rendition. And, what a fabulous fashion photo! Now, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how I can make it to that exhibit in London before it closes.
It always bothers me when covers appear in duplicate in different books, or when images for covers are not original, so I can see your point. Why can't there be more originality??
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, the overuse of the same old stock photos for 2 or 3 different books is really annoying. Originality is so much better. But, I do understand why publishers often end up using the same stock images. There are trends in covers and such a huge quantity of books being released in any give year that you can see how the same stock images could end up being used more than once.
DeleteWish I lived in London... Since it was fiction maybe better it was a model but, the model could have been shorter. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too, Paula! I agree; it would have been nice if they'd chosen an image with a shorter model. Except, maybe the words "short" and "model" simply don't go together. Pretty cool to find out just where that cover image came from, though!
Delete