John Holt ADD

Covers - Retracing Reggae Record Sleeves in London @ Kickstarter

10/25/2016

One of the most amazing reggae photography projects is now looking for your support! London based photographer Alex Bartsch has started a crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter.com to get his book published.

Alex Bartsch about the project:

„In 2014 I began working on a photography project, finding reggae record covers that had been photographed in London, tracking down their original locations and rephotographing them in situ.

The idea first came to me when I bought the Brixton Cat LP by Joe's All Stars (Trojan Records, 1969). I live in Brixton and took the record down to the market where the cover photo was shot, holding it up and rephotographing it at arms length, matching up the LP to the background. The second cover was Smiley Culture's Cockney Translation 12", which was photographed in Battersea. From then on, I was hooked.

To date I have located more than 40 covers. Some were easy to find while others took months of detective work. I cycled all over the city, from Penge in southeast London to Harlesden in the northwest. There were wild goose chases, and some unexpected finds. It's been a great adventure, and has painted an interesting map of London's reggae music heritage.

To achieve some of these shots I had to hitch a boat ride across Regents Canal, climb onto a roof top near Old Street, ask to enter someone's front room in Hampstead, access a back yard in Wembley and venture on to the Westway in west London.“

Bartsch teamed up with Al Newman at One Love Books to publish the book. The book will be 112 pages, hardcover, 245×245mm, with a foreword by Noel Hawks.

Watch the Kickstarter video below for more details and make sure to back this amazing project now @ KICKSTARTER.com