The Disciples

by James Mollison (Photographer), Desmond Morris (Introduction)

Between 2004 and 2007, James Mollison attended pop concerts across Europe and the USA with a mobile photography studio, inviting fans of each music star or band to pose for their portrait outside the gig. He subsequently combined portraits of eight to ten fans for each performer into a single lineup, making a single panoramic image in each case. With a total of over 500 individual portraits, in 62 panoramic images, "The Disciples" was an original, sharp and highly entertaining take on contemporary music culture and the tribalism invoked by popular music stars. This new and expanded affordable edition features four new images produced after the original "Disciples" was published, including fans of MIA, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, and a group of Elvis Presley tribute acts.

Genres: Photography, Music

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

James Mollison was born in Kenya in 1973 and grew up in England. After studying Art and Design at Oxford Brookes University, and later film and photography at Newport School of Art and Design, he moved to Italy to work at Benetton’s creative lab, Fabrica. His work has been widely published throughout the world including by Colors, The New York Times Magazine, the Guardian magazine, The Paris Review, The New Yorker and Le Monde. His latest book Disciples was published in October 2008 following its’ first exhibition at Hasted Hunt Gallery in New York. In 2007 he published The Memory of Pablo Escobar- the extraordinary story of ‘the richest and most violent gangster in history’ told by hundreds of photographs gathered by Mollison. It was the original follow-up to his work on the great apes – widely seen as an exhibition including at the Natural History Museum, London, and in the book James and Other Apes (Chris Boot, 2004). Mollison lives in Venice with his wife.

(From jamesmollison.com)

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fabulous, fascinating, humorous, and all together enjoyable look at music fans. The photographs of these fans in their fan garb are pretty great. The photos show, and Desmond Morris' forward explains, how fashion is used to show our allegiance to a certain group. Often we get caught making fun of goths or shoe-gazers or whoever for not actually being as individual as they might claim their fashion makes them. This might be true, but this book points out that we're missing the communal/tribal aspect of those "individual" fashions. A fashion is basically the simultaneous expression of the individual as well as the community that individual belongs to - community and individual remain ever connected.

The devotion these people have to their music god(s) is pretty fascinating for me, since I feel pretty passionate about a number of bands (some of them are in this book), but I look at these fans and don't feel that I quite fit into any of these fashion groups. So that's an interesting personal thought that doesn't really relate to the quality of this collection, except to show how Mollision's photographs really make me think about somethings. The title is completely appropriate, for these fans really do seem to be the Devout of the devout. I salute them all.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. Just when you think there is nothing new anyone can do in photography, along comes Mollison, who decided to take portraits of people attending concerts--in London, in the US, in Italy. Then he chose 10 representative images from each concert and knitted them into a panorama of concert goers. The Lady Gaga goers were particularly gaga-eque, and the Katie Perry fans were brightly colored, but I have to say my favorite was the Rod Steward layout, with ten 55-plus men with spiky blonde hair and a good bit of fat on them. It's an incredibly delightful book to page through, but I found it even more fun when I read the synopsis of the photo shoots, found in the back of the book, and then looked at the pictures. This book is highly recommended. If your library doesn't have this, seek it out in the bookstore or even purchase it for yourself. It is that good!

[Phillip Goodman]

at first comical, then amazing, the images, or rather those depicted in them, so much of the time, fly in the face of good sense, but there is such joy in them. the fashion, the style perverse, anti fashion, much of the time, some of them come across as profoundly ugly, other profoundly boring, almost non entities in terms of cults and subcultures, and band fanatics, but some are just awesome, in the way that lets you know you're looking into a mirror. subjective awesomeness and beauty and style.

[Trin · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Mollison went around to a bunch of concerts and pulled people from the crowd to photograph. This book highlights their sartorial fannishness, and it's hilarious to try to guess the band just from looking at its fans' outfits. Try it at parties!

[Mykle · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! People are sheep! And they look fabulous.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! People with common interests look alike and form their own "tribes," in this case, different musical group fans. It thrilled me!

[Valerie Warner Danin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engrossing pictures! Perfect coffee table book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great gift for any music lover. Awesome as a coffee table book.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fascinating!!