Simon Larbalestier (born 1962 in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

) is a Welsh photographer. Larbalestier is noted for his collaborative work with

Vaughan Oliver Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship wit ...

and the design studios

23 Envelope 23 Envelope was the name given to the graphic design partnership of graphic designer Vaughan Oliver and photographer/filmmaker Nigel Grierson from 1980–1988. During this time, they created a distinct visual identity for the British independent mu ...

and v23 with whom he has provided photography used on the album artwork for bands such as the

Pixies Pixies may refer to: * Plural of Pixie * Pixies (band) The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...

Red House Painters Red House Painters were an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988, before relocating to San Francisco, California in 1989. Originally formed by singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek and drummer Anthony Koutsos, the pair were soon joine ...

, Heidi Berry, and other artists on the

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

label. Much of the pair's collaborative work has been featured in the book ''Vaughan Oliver: Visceral Pleasures''. His work has featured on many magazine covers for

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

and book covers for the publishers

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

and

Secker & Warburg Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

. Graduating with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

, London in 1987, Larbalestier has described his final degree show as a turning point. Some of the images from this show became album artwork for the first Pixies EP ''

Come On Pilgrim ''Come On Pilgrim'' is the debut mini-album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 28, 1987, on 4AD. Produced by Gary Smith, the release consists of eight tracks from a seventeen-song recording session that the ...

''. Larbalestier went on to shoot images for all the Pixies albums notably ''

Surfer Rosa ''Surfer Rosa'' is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in March 1988 on the British label 4AD. It was produced by Steve Albini. ''Surfer Rosa'' contains many of the elements of Pixies' earlier output, i ...

'', '' Doolittle'' and '' Bossanova'' providing a distinctive and influential imagery for the band. Larbalestier has had many solo and group exhibitions in Britain, Europe, Scandinavia, and the USA. His work during the 1990s and 2000s has included several landscape series of Italy, the USA and Australia and several documentary series on Thailand, Cambodia and other areas of South East Asia. Larbalestier's work is predominantly black and white with subsequent toning added in the darkroom. More recently he has been producing digital images and working with strong colour. He retains an interest in decayed textures and unusual juxtapositions of subject matter as well as "empty spaces, desolation, and loneliness". His documentary series shot in Angkor Wat and Siem Reap deals strongly with the human condition through portraits and atmospheric images of vacant rooms and landscapes and details of possessions revealing how people live. In 2009 Larbalestier and Oliver collaborated again on a limited edition box set re-issue of Pixies recordings, ''

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

'', that includes a 72-page book of new photography and graphics.Artists in Residence, Santa Monica, California, USA, 200
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References

External links

Artists in Residence, Santa Monica, California, USA, 2009Simon Larbalestier web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larbalestier, Simon 1962 births Welsh photographers Living people People from Pembrokeshire Alumni of the Royal College of Art