The Camera Eye
In an interview from 2013, photographer Deborah Samuel explains how she came to work with Hugh Syme and even ended up on the cover of Moving Pictures!
“Iwas living in Toronto at the time and I was shooting entertainment and doing fashion as well. Hugh Syme asked me if I’d be involved on Permanent Waves to style the girl on the cover, which I did. It was before Photoshop so we had to put four negatives together in the dark room. So we had to print it all on one piece of paper
– an adventure in itself! Hugh put himself on the cover: he’s the guy who’s standing next to the stop sign, waving.
“Hugh then asked me to shoot the cover for Moving Pictures and as he had been on the cover of Permanent Waves, it meant that I went on that. I became Joan Of Arc and it became a joke between Hugh and I. Hugh and Neil Peart had brainstormed the pictures they wanted and it became a pun on pictures that moved people. The Coolidge picture of Dogs Playing Poker was a favourite of Neil’s – he had a good sense of humour.
“On the day, the pictures had been blown up to enormous sizes and framed so the movers were moving real pictures. It went really smoothly – we had a big truck with everything in and so many hours to shoot it. We brought in a number of friends to participate and set it up to create the scene.
“The Joan Of Arc setup was done shortly before; we got an old pole and put it up in the studio. I got into burlap and stood in front of the pole. I had a shutter release cable in the back of my pants and we set up a pie plate under the lens and put lighter fuel into that. Hugh set it on fire and the perspective made the flames look huge, like a bonfire – they were just three inches big.
“On the day it was fun; we were all 30 years younger and happy:
‘I’m going to be on a Rush cover!’ Everyone was related, or a friend. The band were not there [though]. I didn’t know them terribly well, but I did their shots with a Monobloc, a piece of equipment that takes four shots a second. That was another pun on ‘moving pictures’.
“I did a lot of album covers at that time, it’s how I started in the business. But it’s always rewarding to see the complete work. I never thought much of being Joan Of Arc, but it’s become much more of a story in the last 10 or so years than it was at the beginning. I’ve gotten more fan and interview requests, probably because of the anniversary [Time Machine] tour in 2011, and it became huge! It’s kinda odd. It’s certainly a role that I understand and when I was a kid she was an important figure to me, I never knew why. It’s kind of an early feminism, and being burnt for your beliefs… in my line of work that’s something you’ve gotta take on!
“I worked for over 20 years in editorial portraiture, fashion, entertainment; I travelled at lot and lived in different places. Nearly 20 years ago I moved into fine art. I always had that alongside commercial work. I was one of the photographers who always got the wildest jobs as I can deal with people [laughs]. My fine art work became more important.
“I haven’t listened to the record recently. I have pretty eclectic tastes in music but I appreciate Rush; they were one of the nicest bands to work with, down-to-earth and professional. All the really good people are always like that. They’ve weathered all storms, and working with young bands in LA, they don’t get that.
“I think the sleeve is a classic.
The concept weathers time, the music weathers time and the artwork weathers time. There’s a lot of admiration for it. I get a lot of emails and enquiries and it’s a record that defines a certain part of your life. A lot of young men are particularly influenced. It was part of the culture, make-up and voice.” JK