Every so often an event appears on the horizon that speaks to you as a photographer and you know it must become a personal project. Some of these projects can last months or even years and some can be accomplished in the course of a day. Anyone who knows me well, knows I am a Pink Floyd fan. I am by no means a super fan, but their music has traveled with me wherever I go and marks some important milestones in my life. I was never a fan of Pink Floyd's Animals, I was always a Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall type of guy. It wasn't until I started t making frequent trips from Brussels to London in 2001 and would pass the derelict power station on my way into Waterloo Station that it started to leave its mark on me. Over the years I would pass the famous landmark when driving through London and was always amazed how it just towered over its surroundings on the Thames. Seeming like it would never be moved. But now there is talk that Chelsea F.C. will use the site for their new stadium. That's another project for another day.
Fast forward to 2011 and Battersea Power Station is still there, used once or twice a year for extreme sporting events and not much else. The surrounding areas have changed, new apartments and office buildings are springing up everywhere. I am not certain how long this monolith can hold out as London changes around it. It's September and EMI are announcing a reissue of the entire Pink Floyd catalogue, with certain special additions of their biggest albums. What makes this reissue event different than others is that it is being spaced out and certain albums are being relaunched close to or on their original launch date, as well as special events surrounding each event. I was aware that Animals would be the next album put out on the market and only one thought came to mind, would they recreate the infamous pig flying over the smoke stacks? Yes. By the power of Facebook and other social networking sites I was able to arrange access to this event. So one very early morning on the 26 September, 2011, I drove down to London and made my way to Battersea. There were quite a few photographers and cameramen there. It was still dark at this point and the giant inflatable pig was being unrolled from the back of a van, I had a quick chat with one of the balloon technicians (I think they like dirigible professionals) who happened to be one of the original guys who helped with the pig in 1977. As the pig ascended on the north side of the building peoples disappointment was obvious. Quite a few people had hoped to recreate the Animals album cover with the pig on the south side of the station.
[caption id="attachment_124" align="aligncenter" width="365" caption="Pink Floyd celebrate the launch of Why Pink Floyd with the recreation of the 1977 Pink Floyd Animals album cover by flying an inflatable pig on the north side of the Battersea Power Station."]
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To be honest there were plenty of ways you could shoot this event. It's nice covering something that doesn't have rules on what it should look like. I spent some time taking pictures hoping the wind would die down and the balloon would get close to the building. No such luck, so I traveled cross The Thames and shot various aspects of Battersea and the pig. While on the north side, I noticed a man being interviewed holding up a copy of the album. I knew that it wasn't Storm Thorgerson, creator of so many Pink Floyd album covers. I had always assumed that Storm had created the actual image on the Animals album cover, but I was wrong. I made my way back to Battersea and asked if the photographer who took the album cover image was available. I was in luck. Howard Bartrum was there and he was just leaving. I don't think anyone knew who he was, to be honest I didn't know who he was until that moment. I asked him for a couple of minutes to shoot some portraits and he was more than happy to help. Unfortunately, our flying pink friend was still being blown about by the wind. I couldn't get Howard, Battersea Power Station, and a pig all positioned together. I told Howard I would cut and paste the pig in later, he laughed. Any why shouldn't he, although the Animals album cover image is his, the pig was added in later.
[caption id="attachment_125" align="aligncenter" width="399" caption="Howard Bartrum, the photographer of the Animals album cover, stands in front of the Battersea Power Station."]
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I could have spent all day in London shooting, but the skies didn't like like they would get any brighter and I had what I wanted. After all this was a personal project and there were no expectations other than mine. Plus I was leaving early the next morning for Germany to cover Manchester City and Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, and we all know how that game turned out. I submitted my images to the agency I work for without much thought to what might turn up in the next days papers or even further down the line. And until recently I had given much thought to this set of images until I stumbled across a book being sold in Brazil, it is a reprint of a Pink Floyd book by author Mark Blake. The image was unmistakably mine, although in true Pink Floyd Fashion, the Pig had been cut and moved for better placement. The gallery can be seen here: Corbis
Joe Toth Photography 