I’ve been doing research on photogs around the world for an upcoming project and I was instantly captivated by the riviting images of Jocelyn Bain Hogg. To give you some background on this fellow, he is an eminent British photographer who put together a series called ‘The Firm‘ which is a searing photographic document of the British organized crime world.
Upon it’s launch (some ten years ago) it received instant recognition. Going through hundreds of his images there was one that jumped off the screen as it is identical to the album artwork for Jay-Z’s masterpiece (both sonically and for it’s package design) ‘The Blueprint’ (Roc-a-fella/Def Jam).
I don’t have my jewel case and album artwork with me so I’m wondering if this was inspiration or if Bain Hogg lensed this frame for Jay? I know that MorningBreath was the design agency in charge of the creative for the project…If you know who shot the flicks let me know. Here’s some more info on Jocelyn Bain Hogg and ‘The Firm’.
Over a four-year period Bain Hogg documented different aspects of the underworld, from exile in Tenerife to the broad spectrum of activity in the United Kingdom. Since Brighton Rock in the 1940s, photographers and film directors have been trying to capture the personalities and characteristics of the British urban gangster on film. These are not the faces of criminals who hide behind the facade of respectability or the corruption of political influence. They are, in fact, the real thing, men who hold their head up when challenged, and who seek no false redemption in the face of public vilification. Bain Hogg has captured for the first time in The Firm the weft and warp of these faces to whom violence is common currency and to whom loyalty is above all.
The project is currently being revisited, ten years later now that the old capos have passed away and in the wake of escalating gang crime in the estates of the UK.
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Originally the focus of this post was solely going to be placed on the American Menswear Fashion Book, but after I found out it was published by 
I just stumbled across this graphic design booklet titled ‘
