Q: THE 100 GREATEST ROCK'N'ROLL PHOTOGRAPHS

Morrissey
Andy Earl

Griffiths Observatory, Los Angeles
Spring 1995 (this should be 1994)

By 1995, Morrissey was relocating to America, specifically Los Angeles, and Q went out to meet him on his new turf. Earl: "Morrissey always had a bit of a James Dean fixation. The Griffiths Observatory is the Rebel Without A Cause film reference, plus I wanted to shoot him outside, using light and the elements. Given he was trying to settle himself into America, he was reluctant to be too associated with James Dean. He didn't want it all to be too obvious. But when he saw the Polaroids I took beforehand, you could see that it wasn't playing up that whole side of things, it's more of a nod and wink to it."

photograph by Andy Earl

Earl positioned Morrissey by the wall, and used a panoramic camera. "The shot is so visual, with the dome and the lettering. It's got a lovely sense of scale to it, and place, but I also love the graffiti on the wall, and that someone's written 'soul' on the bin that he's sitting above."

The shoot was scheduled for midday, but by the time Morrissey arrived, the sun had gone in, and the cloud took over. Earl compensated with a flash, and got the result he wanted. "I think he looks really cool, quite James Dean in the way he's lounging. And because he's looking away from the camera, he's more pensive than you'd usually see him. His arms are stretched out like a cross too. It's quite statuesque. Even though it's set up, it doesn't look that way. It has a casualness to it. Morrissey loved the shots. Back in London, he came into the Q offices after to have a look, and he said, It's really rather beautiful, isn't it?" Martin Aston

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