Josef Salvat

The Modern Anxiety album cover was a collaboration between in-house photographer Joe Magowan, creative director Mat Maitland (Big Active) and Josef Salvat. The idea was to produce an image that captured a mood of isolation and disillusionment in a context usually associated with leisure. The situation was to be familiar but with an air of uncanniness. Josef came up with the idea of sitting in a bath, and the team deliberated a few set-ups involving props and lighting to give the image a surreal atmosphere. Mat then scouted the location, which was eventually found in a flat in Shoreditch. A number of set-ups were executed on the shoot day, but on viewing the resultant images, the team decided that the location’s interesting, pared-down design, shot with natural light was enough to portray the message of Modern Anxiety without the need for props or studio lighting.