Elton John, 66, is releasing “The Diving Board“, his 31th studio album on Tuesday.  Tim Barber is the photographer who took the shot used for the album cover.  Barber grew up in Amherst Massachusetts, lived for a few years in the mountains of Northern Vermont, studied photography in Vancouver B.C. and now lives in New York City.  Barber’s photos have been used by Vogue, Nike and Levi’s. Barber shares the story of this photograph in the New York Times article titled: How Elton John Chose My Photo For His Album.

“I took this photo about 10 years ago somewhere between Vancouver and Squamish, on the coast of British Columbia. I don’t actually know exactly where. It’s a kind of legendary secret swimming spot where some kids had installed a diving board on the side of a cliff. You had to park really far away and walk through the woods to get there. I was with some friends from Vancouver who knew about it. I think it was October.  When I took the picture — literally, while I was pushing the button — I was thinking, “This looks amazing.” It was just a special moment and the light was crazy that day. The air was super clear. Something I strive for in my photos is to imply a greater narrative, to make the viewer wonder what happened before and what happened after. I think this picture is a good example of that. It’s also the photo of mine that people always think is fake — like that it’s been Photoshopped, or shot on a green screen. I like that. Something that was so simple and real ended up so surreal and hard to believe…”

Read more about how Elton John selected Barber’s image at this link.

References:

• New York Times Photo Essay: How Elton John Chose My Photo For His Album
• Elton John’s new Album on iTunes: The Diving Board
• Check out Tim Barber’s web site for other great photos: TimBarber.com