“Float Around”: Photos From Nirvana’s Underwater “Nevermind” Shoot – Design You Trust — Design Daily Since 2007

“Float Around”: Photos From Nirvana’s Underwater “Nevermind” Shoot

The baby-floating-in-water cover for Nirvana’s Nevermind album is one of contemporary rock’s most iconic. It was shot by Austin-based photographer Kirk Weddle.

More: Kirk Weddle h/t: rockarchive

Weddle was just starting out when he got the assignment to photograph the band, who were relatively unknown at the time. Not only was he tasked with shooting the now classic cover, a photo of a baby (Spencer Elden) underwater reaching for a dollar on a fishing hook. But he also had to shoot some promo shots for the band, which involved them larking about, and jumping in a swimming pool in reference to the cover.

Kirk Weddle recalls, “They were intrigued a little bit with the instruments in the water. Then we had to choreograph it all together and get it going. It’s hard to get three guys underwater at the same time, looking kind of good. So we did a lot of practice and a lot of trial and error and finally banged it out.”

On the 25th anniversary of the shoot back in 2016, Weddle put on an exhibition of around 200 outtakes from what he took that day in collaboration with an Austin gallery.

“A 4-month-old baby was cast and I conducted the shoot with just his parents and a lifeguard present. I placed a camera with a motor drive , in an underwater housing, mounted on a tripod at the bottom of a pool. Since kids are always an unknown at shoots, I did several prelight and prefocus passes with a doll. Once I felt I had the framing, light, and exposure dialed in; the parents slipped the child into the water. I took seven frames on the first pass and four frames on the second. As expected, the baby started to cry, this had been the babies first time underwater, and we wrapped the shoot. The dollar bill and the fishhook were stripped in in post. The result was one of the most iconic album covers in the last 25 years. The music inside wasn’t too bad either; to date it has sold over 30 million copies,” he said.



If you want more awesome content, subscribe to Design You Trust Facebook page.

More Inspiring Stories

Photographer Tom Hegen Captures Aerial Series Of Breathtaking Tulips

Photographer Caesar Lima Explores The Unusual Beauty Of The Human Body

"Midnight Gothic": Photographer Elsa Bleda Captures South African Johannesburg In Neon Nightscapes

This is How You Photograph Giant Waves Crashing on a Beach

"Eternal Monuments in The Dark": Photograher Captures Brutalist Beauty Of Fragments of The Socialist Era

Vintage Snaps Capture Life at Venice Beach in 1970

Brand New Dewar's Street T-Shirt Collection

Mulberry's Advertising Campaign, Fall 2012

An English Student’s Street Photographs of Edinburgh In the 1950s and 1960s

Seoul At Night In Neon-Noir Through The Lens Of Photographer Noe Alonzo

Delightful Portraits Turn Little Girls Into Inspiring Female Role Models From Throughout History

Stunning Images Of The National Geographic Traveller Photography Contest 2021

Humans Of New York: Photos Of Random Strangers In NYC By Colin Ridgway

Julianne Moore As Famous Works Of Art

Taking A Walk And Taking Pictures In 1980s New York – Robert Herman's Vibrant Kodachrome Street Photography Of NYC

This Hidden Chilling Forest Path Looks Like A Trail To Mordor

Japanese Photographer Captures Stunning Images Of "Time-Traveling Samurai"

Amazing Macro Portraits of Bees Reveal How Different They Actually Look

The Spectacular Finalists Images form The Art of Building Competition 2022

American Woman Celebrated Getting A Job With A Romantic Photoshoot

Photographer Explores the Beautiful Diversity of Redheads

Eerie Black And White Photographs That Show London Fog Scenes From The Early 20th Century

Photographer Captures The Laid-Back Cool Of California And Its People

Fabulous Portrait Photos Of Rhodes College's Students Taken By A Former In The Early 1970s

Photographer Creates Miniature Landmarks On His Dining Table Using Household Items

Ohio Youth Of The 1970s – Lovely Photos Of Long-Haired Teenage Girls In Dayton From 1974-75

Photographer Thomas Strogalski Captured Wonderful Images Of Abandoned Cars Swallowed By Hawaii’s Jungles

Bon Jovi Really Loved Wearing Ridiculous Outfits In 1980s

AI-Log: The Immersive AI-Photography by Alina Trifan

Photographer Steve McCurry's Photos Show The Complex Relationship Between Humans And Animals