Nachruf auf Storm Thorgerson

Chris sagt:

Da ich es gerade in meinem Mail-Account als Newsletter der Storm-Studios fand, hier deren Nachruf:

Storm Elvin Thorgerson: 1944-2013

This week we buried the head of our Studio and close friend, Storm Elvin Thorgerson. He was 69 years old.
He had been suffering from cancer for the past five years and the effects of a stroke for the past ten. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family and close friends.

Storm was a man of character. A man of contrasts. He engendered love, fury, delight and frustration in all those he came in contact with. He was the scourge of taxi drivers, record company executives, managers and generally all those in authority. He was the champion of rebels, of art and of musicians (and good food). His diverse range of friends loved him unconditionally. Once you had passed the loyalty test and become ‘family’ he was enormously loyal and loved you dearly in return.

He had a huge intellect and he wanted to understand and control everything around him. This was particularly useful on photoshoots and film sets, where he would bark orders at everyone, marshalling them towards his desired aim. This approach extended to restaurants, hotels, airports and generally wherever he was found.
His creative output was prolific. In his early career he was the creative force behind Hipgnosis. Their images became synonymous with the biggest names in rock n’ roll, including Pink Floyd, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Yes.

StormStudios, formed over 20 years ago, has continued in this prolific vein. With Storm we created artwork for Muse, Pink Floyd, Biffy Clyro, The Steve Miller Band, The Cranberries, Powderfinger, Pendulum, Audioslave, The Mars Volta and 10cc to name but a few. We have also designed and published books to accompany Storm’s writings, including Mind Over Matter (The Images of Pink Floyd) The Raging Storm (a retrospective of four years of our output to 2011) Riding Along In My Automobile (about the old American cars of Cuba) and, most recently, The Gathering Storm (A Quartet In Several Parts) a collection of Storm’s work covering his beginnings at Hipgnosis to the present day with StormStudios. Storm was able to see a finished copy of The Gathering Storm days before his death. He gave it the thumbs up.

The funeral service, beautifully arranged by his family, summed up his life. In attendance were endless friends, several rock n roll legends, managers, record company execs, a waiter, printers, publishers, his cleaning lady of 10 years ago and his acupuncturist. We buried him in sight of Karl Marx and his friend Douglas Adams, in Highgate Cemetery on a beautiful spring afternoon with his favourite cherry blossom in full bloom. He would love to have been there.

Storm asked us to continue the Studio and as such all the familiar faces are still in place, headed up by Peter Curzon, Dan Abbott and Rupert Truman.

We plan to carry on just as before, creating impossible images that engage the eye, confuse the mind and resonate with the music.

Peter, Dan, Rupert, Lee, Jerry, Laura, Silvia and Charlotte.

StormStudios