this is the best magazine cover of the last forty years.

id have to agree for a number of reasons.

one:

its rolling stone magazine, a pop culture behemoth hiding in low key print journalism clothing.

two:

john lennon is one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century. his catalogue with The Beatles, and as a solo artist are untouchable, both in sheer volume and quantity. he set fashion trends, political trends, ideological trends.

three:

while he was sadly taken from us too soon, lennon is one of very very very very very few non political figures whose murder is referred to as an assasination.

four:

lots of artsy fartsy visual stuff. soft focus and medium lighting creates a painting-on-canvas effect. neither of the two bodies are looking at the reader, which places focus on the picture as a whole, rather than the star power of yoko and john. through positioning, gender roles are reversed. while women are usually the ones who are objectified through showing skin, here john is the one whos naked, in the fetal position, no less. its not sexual at all, but in fact it displays him as weaker and powerless compared to the fully clothed, comfortably positioned yoko. you see her barely accepting his embrace, as if he is fully and totally subservient to her. this image of their relationship is supported by the public's image of their relationship during his life; one of a loving, affectionate john and a supportive, noninvasive yoko. powerful stuff.

five:

magazine logo is de-emphasized by using a darker color that blended into the overall feel of the picture. funny thing is, bring out the words 'rolling stone' more would have weakened the image, and consequently, weakened sales.

six:

this cover has nothing to do with the crazy crazy weekend i had. there arent any crowded malls, dirty celebrity apartments, or gay cats in bed with mr and mrs ono, but those are stories for another time and another place.

night.

|