During the summer of 2021 Anne Beimers ’23 worked with Professor Andy Flory on the Marvin Gaye photo research project. Anne shared her experience as an SRP with the Humanities Center.
“The Marvin Gaye Photo Research project takes a deep dive into the history of music photography, specifically looking at the legendary R&B singer Marvin Gaye. Through cataloging hundreds of live performance photographs as well as professional, staged portraits, I noticed trends in Marvin Gaye’s appearance, demeanor, and style. Over the course of his career, his public image transformed along with his musical style, and the time period. In collecting these images, I was shown the importance of music photography in tracking the history of a musical artist as legendary as Marvin Gaye.
I found it incredibly interesting to follow along with certain photographers that were loyal to Gaye, and note others who were hired only for certain events or photo shoots. I had never considered photography as such an important way to document musical performances, but in the thick of my research over the summer I went to concerts and suddenly became very aware of the photographers constantly snapping photos of the performers. You would think that the music is the most important part of a concert, but stage presence and confidence can be effectively captured through photography
I gained skills in Microsoft Excel, as well as thoroughly researching and cross-checking photograph sources for credibility. As far as academic skills go, I spent a lot of time managing my own time and progress on this research, so I learned how to do self check-in’s in order to make sure I am getting enough done.”
Working with Andy is wonderful because his passion and excitement for the subject matter is infectious. I believe that I was assisting him in something important and valuable to his own personal work, while learning a lot myself through our meetings and conversations. I was given a lot of flexibility and freedom in my work to take it whatever direction felt necessary or interesting to me. That was a very valuable experience for me in order to assess what my engagement level was in certain areas of the project, and I was able to hone in on certain ideas that I found interesting.