Let's take a trip back to 2011 when I was Verse iTal’s official photographer and graphic designer. In those days, I laid out album booklets, and posters and executed 1,000,000 photoshoots (lol) for various purposes.
The photographs featured in the video above are some of the ones that made the shortlist from the photoshoot we did for his second album. I remember that day vividly. We loaded those hefty speakers and amp into the car and headed to Chaguaramas. Verse carried everything under a tree of my choice, setting up the flag and microphone. The setup and vibe clicked instantly for me. I might have made him move everything to a slightly different spot once, and then we dove into the shoot. It was probably one of my fastest photoshoots.
This photoshoot was actually the second one I did for this album cover. I had already designed the album booklet and everything, but the team wanted to explore a different direction. The recollection of this only dawned on me as I rummaged through my files for the album cover to feature in this post (lol). With this reminder, one of my favourite scenes from the Bob Marley movie resonates more deeply. The scene depicted Neville Garrick, the artist behind many of Bob Marley's legendary covers, fervently painting during studio sessions while Bob recorded the Exodus album. Garrick presents one of his completed art pieces for consideration for the album cover, but Bob doesn't like the vibe. Eventually, he created one that Bob loves. This artwork became the iconic Exodus album cover we revere today. As a big Marley fan, I've always admired Neville Garrick's work, and I loved that they paid homage to him in the film. Those scenes brought back memories of my past life as an album cover artist, but I completely forgot that I also had to rework many album covers!
While these photographs from this shoot are etched in my mind, I haven't seen the actual album cover in ages! I can't quite recall how we chose the final photograph from this set, but I doubt I chose it as I loved them all. I am glad we opted for a reshoot for the album cover because this set of photographs was better suited for it! As I reminisce about these moments, I find myself chuckling at the tales behind them. Moreover, I marvel at how easily I forget the multitude of projects I've worked on. It feels like both yesterday and a lifetime ago. Time can truly be a blur!
How many of you are familiar with this Verse iTal album? It's really good! The song playing in the video is "Watch Yourself". Let me know which tune is your favorite.