Cloud Illusions - STEVEN R. TABOR

Cloud Illusions

Why does perspective change over time?

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

--Joni Mitchell (Both Sides Now)

In 1969, the Joni Mitchell album "Clouds" was released and included the song "Both Sides Now". The song is, at first glance, a simple meditation on clouds and the way a child might see them, as "ice-cream castles in the air". But as the song notes, there are two sides to everything, and as we get older, we stop seeing clouds for their simple beauty, but also as a sign of rain or of bad weather. Ultimately, the song is about the ambiguity of life, and how the world comes to be interpreted differently depending on how you see things.

In 1972, the Joni Mitchell album, "For the Roses" came out. Inside the album, there was a cover art photo of Joni Mitchell, standing naked on a cliff, staring out into the cloudy horizon. At age 14, this was likely the first nude photo I'd ever seen, and it was love at first sight. To pay tribute to that album art, in this series, Anna Johansson, a Swedish model, poses against the backdrop of several cloud images.

If you'd like to see the full series, download the PDF catalogue here.