I received regrettable news first thing in the morning for me today as a friend told me that the great photographer Brian Griffin had died yesterday at the age of 75. I first encountered the lensman probably in 1979 when he made a vivid 1-2 punch with striking cover photos for the albums, “Look Sharp” [Joe Jackson] and “Stateless” [Lene Lovich version 2 – USA]. The Jackson cover was simply a perfect photo. You can tell the art director, Michael Ross, was loathe to put any copy on there with such a photo, as the LP version had all text minimized to be as unobtrusive as possible. Alas, the CD cover lost the proportions shown on the LP cover below.

The Lene Lovich cover was the second one shot for the remix/re-recording of the album intended for the North American market. The otherworldly poise and formality of the shots make her [and Les Chappel] look like Soviet politicians sending semaphore or accepting The Orb of State. So that year Mr. Griffin certainly got noticed.

For the next year, he photographed the Ultravox “Vienna” campaign; something I couldn’t help but notice as Ultravox was thrust into favorite band position with all due haste after encountering the “Passing Strangers” video that September. He shot in both black + white and color, with the B/W shots having the edge with the retro-leaning synth rockers. For vibrant color, his cover photo for “Speak + Spell,” the debut Depeche Mode album, featured a riot of reds and a still inscrutable swan wrapped in cellophane. But the next year was where his work for DM hit its stride and really made a name for himself.

1982 brought one of the most iconic shots of the 80s; Griffin’s Soviet Realist cover photo for the second Depeche Mode album, “A Broken Frame.” The impact of the photo was palpable. Kate Bush saw it and wanted some of that vibe [if second hand] herself. At that year’s Design & Art Direction awards in London, the photo won “image of the year.” And a cheeky Griffin attended the ceremony in Royal Albert Hall dressed as…Royal Albert Hall in pure dada style as seen in the photo at the post’s head.

Griffin worked extensively for New Wave royalty like Elvis Costello + The Attractions and Echo + The Bunnymen. The latter with a series of moody, atmospheric shots like few other bands had. Alas, my shamefully scant Echo + the Bunnymen collection only has “Ocean Rain,” but I have always been partial to the ice flows of “Porcupine.”

Griffin managed to also shoot the photos for the John Foxx 1983 campaign for “The Golden Section,” making him associated with both ends of the Ultravox spectrum. He added immeasurable glamour to the iconic cover portrait on Mari Wilson’s “Show People” album, which eschewed any typography for the sheer impact of the image in its original UK edition. By mid-decade, he was working with The Stranglers on their “Aural Sculpture” campaign.

Griffin has many a feature over the years as his move from business photography to a musical focus managed to get tongues wagging among the cognoscenti of the photographic world. He left us suddenly, while dying in his sleep, but leaves behind a potent body of work. I have to admit that his eye for the tone in a monochrome print couldn’t be bettered, but his color work, particularly “A Broken Frame,” showed that he would take no prisoners in the full spectrum. Condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.

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