Jocelyn Bain Hogg vs. Jay Z
A while back I was doing research on photogs around the world for an upcoming project and I was instantly captivated by the riveting images of Jocelyn Bain Hogg. To give you some background on this fellow, he is an eminent British photographer who put together a series called ‘The Firm‘ which is a searing photographic document of the British organized crime world. Upon it’s launch (some ten years ago) it received instant recognition. Although primarily a documentary photographer, portraiture plays a strong role in his output. Going through hundreds of his images there was one that jumped off the screen as it is identical to the album artwork for Jay-Z’s masterpiece (both sonically and for it’s package design) ‘The Blueprint’ (Roc-a-fella/Def Jam).
I’m curious if this was inspiration or if Bain Hogg lensed this frame for Jay? I know that Morning Breath was the design agency in charge of the creative for the project…If you know who shot the flicks let me know. Here’s some more info on Jocelyn Bain Hogg and ‘The Firm’.
Over a four-year period Bain Hogg documented different aspects of the underworld. These are not the faces of criminals who hide behind the facade of respectability or the corruption of political influence. They are, in fact, the real thing, men who hold their head up when challenged, and who seek no false redemption in the face of public vilification. Bain Hogg has captured for the first time in The Firm the faces to whom violence is common currency and to whom loyalty is above all.
He is currently busy working on both editorial and commercial assignments with a project in progress on British Youth and an update ten years later of The Firm called The Family (now that the old capos have passed away and in the wake of escalating gang crime in the estates of the UK) which will be premiered as a book and exhibition at Visa Pour L’Image in September 2011.