Personal Project: Boomers (a tribute to people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom), 2023
1st picture: God Save The King*
Model: Philip Philmar
Photography, Art Direction & Costume Creation: Astrid Schulz
Topiary: Richard Jackson in Warwickshire
*Inspired by the crowning a new old King (who waited all his life for this to happen), and that rather fabulous TV series ‘Pistols’ by Danny Boyle (OMG, that’s 46 years ago!!), some ideas popped into my head on how to express my personal confusion about the sense of age; where I was coming from and where I am right now.
For those of us who are old enough, remembering the Queen's silver jubilee in 1977, Vivienne Westwood's radical contribution to fashion and how the Sex Pistols overturned the music industry, let’s be assured that we made our stamp in history, and we will continue to do so!
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2nd picture: New Model Barmey**
Models & creative collaborators: Michael Qureshi & Philip Philmar
Photography, art direction, posters & styling: Astrid Schulz
**Inspiration for this photo were taken from:
New Model Army (1): an English rock band formed in 1980, in Bradford, West Yorkshire. They took their name from the New Model Army (2), a standing army which existed from 1645 to 1660, formed by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, which lead to the execution of King Charles I.
Barmy Army (1): an English football chant, in which supporters of a team would chant that they were the team manager's "barmy army". The term Barmy Army (2) was later applied to a particularly "barmy" group of supporters who followed the English cricket team to Australia during the Ashes series in 1994–95, despite the team being seen as having little prospect of success.
Barney Bubbles: an English graphic artist (1942-1983). His distinctive style was hugely influential and mainly used within the British independent music scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His most recognisable output was record sleeves, laden with symbols and riddles. He also happened to design a cricket poster, which inspired poster no1, the blue one with the matches…
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3rd picture title: Cockney Reflects***
Model: Graham Petrie
Photography, art direction, and anything to do with crochet: Astrid Schulz
***Inspiration for this image came from the ‘Oi’ band Cockney Rejects. At the height of their musical career they were quite influential for the spirit of the East End of London. The band members were supporters of the football club West Ham United, to the degree that they recorded a cover version of the club’s traditional chant ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’.
Thinking back, the 1980’s felt like rough times for me and my peers, and our frustration about politics, and sheer boredom, was expressed through music, and even street fights and other violent behaviour (such as football hooliganism). Coming to a certain age (and hopefully wiser), edges have softened, and most of us moved on to being more reflective of our cultural heritage.
Disclaimer: the setting of this picture is fictional, and is not intended to celebrate negative football fan behaviour, violence or anything to do with the far-right extremists.
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4th picture: The Love Machine****
Models: Denise O-Leary & robot Ralf
Photography, art direction, poster & styling: Astrid Schulz
The Boomers generation received a bit of bad press lately. The media's primary narrative of Baby Boomers is about aging, and about becoming a burden to the next generation(s). Well, yes, but we (boomers) created the world we are living in now, for good or for bad, and we also paved the way in entertainment, culture and music. And we still have a role to play.
****Let’s look at the music created by ‘Kraftwerk’. Over 40 years ago, the German ultra-modern electronic band released a forward pointing record with the title ‘The Robots’. As stated by the band: "We live in a computer world, so we made a song about it”. In fact, they recorded many more songs, featuring topics such as home computers and digital communication. Anyhow, despite the theme of futurism, the production of their albums was completely analogue, and did not involve any computer technology.
In ‘The Robots’, we hear lyrics such as ‘We're charging our battery - and now we're full of energy’ and ‘We are programmed just to do - anything you want us to’. What we are now facing from the results of ongoing technical developments, human skills are indeed being replaced by bots and machines. Another one of Kraftwerk’s songs, ‘Computer Love’ (‘I don't know what to do - I need a rendezvous’), is a prophetic song about finding love via the computer. It was released in 1981, long before the existence of dating apps and cybersex.
Looking at the present day, their futuristic tunes have never been so relevant. Man can now order a humanised sex doll. Is this the answer for all interpersonal challenges and derealisation? As every version of reality is possible nowadays, our ‘Booming’ heroine has just got herself a brand-new toy. Her long-lasting desire came true, finally. Bless them both; now plug it in!
Note: no AI involved in this picture, this content is a real piece of handcrafted art, trust me!
