Back in 2005, during the period of when I was finishing "Legacy Of Love", I was trolling the net looking for some appropriate inspirations of cover art for the album insert. Looking thru some old photographs I found online,I came across what I first believed to be an elaborate pencil drawing of what appeared to be an old mausoleum or ancient stone temple on the side of a hill or cliff. It was a beautiful sepia-tone, finely detailed, with a slightly ominous look to it, as though it had not been used in centuries. I was emotionally moved by this stone temple, and set out to discover its origin. I discovered the "pencil drawing" was actually a photograph taken by a Harry Thuillier Jr, a photographer from Ireland, who had died in 1997, but left a collection of work that impressed and stunned me by its' truthful, otherworldly atmosphere. This particular photograph, I learned, had been developed using an out of date method known as "platinum-palladium processing", giving it its' peculiar sepia-toned appearance. Apparently, during a photo-shoot in Dublin some years before, Harry was attacked by street thugs, severely injuring his right eye. Despite a long period of recovery, the injury left him unable to continue normally pursuing regular photography, so Harry discovered "platinum-palladium processing", an outmoded, seldom used large format developing system that left photographs processed this way with an unusual sepia-toned style reminiscent of old photographs. Harry Thuillier Jr. eventually became one of the foremost accomplished photographers recognized for using this unusual processing system. I was so moved by this one photograph and Harrys' body of work that I developed an entire album concept and a whole new collection of songs based on his tragically short life, his brilliant career, and his artistic endeavours. I eventually contacted his brother, Ian Thuillier to obtain permission to use Harrys' "Temple" photograph as the cover for this new album. My greatest thanks and appreciation go out to Ian and the entire Thuillier family for their generous consent. |
| The Story Of "Beyond The Great Divide" |