Everybody wants to be a pop star – How Andy Warhol chased after his dreams.
Many photographs viewed in albums containing world’s most famous pictures were only a step away from never being taken. That is a claim made by Garard Malanga who in May of 1966 took a photo of a band called Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol during a break while on tour. This seemingly uninteresting picture of five band members and one of the most famous pop artists became an iconic image of sorts and proof that Warhol amongst a wide variety of his artistic expressionism was also involved in music.
Malanga’s photo, at a first glance, gives an impression of a picture that could literally be found in anyone’s photo album. Without knowing the context, the picture portrays a group of friends who were forced by one their buddies to pose in a picture with him. It seems that nobody in the photo is overly concerned with being photographed. Only two of the bunch are paying attention and looking at the camera while others appear somewhat disinterested. They all look natural and rather relaxed, almost bored as if though they are not really there mentally. After all it’s just another buddy pic and no one is worried about the fact that the picture will make its way into a well know magazine and leave a foot print in the history of pop culture. Even Gerald Malanga claims that the photo had absolutely nothing to do with art. He simply to took a spontaneous picture of a group of friends using his Pentax camera. Little did he know that it was precisely this casual atmosphere which made the photo such a hit.
On the left we can see the beautiful Nico, a German singer, Andy Warhol and the The Velvets. It is fascinating how much can be derived just from looking at the picture. It is obvious who the star of the band is and who plays more of a supporting role. After a more deliberate scrutiny, one can even venture a guess claiming that there is a conflict between the band members by noticing...