See Stevie Nicks’ Intimate Self-Portraits From the Seventies and Eighties

When Stevie Nicks first rediscovered the demo tapes she had made in the Seventies and decided to record fresh versions for her new solo album, 24 Karat Gold – Songs From the Vault, she also happened on a box of Polaroids she'd taken while touring with Fleetwood Mac between 1975 and 1987. A sort of precursor to the selfies of today, though more in the vein of Cindy Sherman, Nicks had dressed herself, set up the scenery and positioned the camera so she could capture herself for her own amusement.
"People would ask to model for me, and I'd say, 'Be at my hotel room at 2:30 a.m., dressed in lipstick and gowns and hats and rhinestones and diamonds,' " Nicks recently told Rolling Stone of the photos. "And they'd say, 'Uh, no, I'm good.' So I was the model, photographer and furniture mover."
A gallery exhibition of the photos, "24 Karat Gold," will run at New York's Morrison Hotel Gallery through Halloween. Preview six of images here:
-
Stevie Swims
Eurythmics member Dave Stewart, who coproduced 24 Karat Gold, helped select the photos that made it into the deluxe edition of the album as well as ones for a gallery showing of the Polaroids, also titled "24 Karat Gold," that will open at New York's Morrison Hotel Gallery on October 10th. "I couldn't help but notice the amount of care and attention to detail she had taken in taking these photos," he has said. "I asked Stevie particularly about the self-portraits and her eyes lit up. She then proceeded to tell me about the time she took each photo and the way in which she took them."
-
The Woman in White
Image Credit: Stevie Nicks/Morrison Hotel Gallery Stewart encouraged her to have the photos reproduced on a larger scale and suggested the exhibition.
-
Don’t Look Back
Image Credit: Stevie Nicks/Morrison Hotel Gallery "The result is an intimate look – a frozen moment in time through the eyes of the artist herself – during a period when she was as successful as any rock star could ever be and at the same time as vulnerable and lonely as every artist can be when it's 4 a.m.," Stewart said. "Everyone else is asleep and you are still wide awake, flying high and still trying to make sense of it all."
-
The Other Side of the Mirror
Image Credit: Stevie Nicks/Morrison Hotel Gallery "Stevie Nicks offers a deeply intimate and revealing side to herself in this exhibition," Morrison Hotel Gallery co-owner Peter Blachley said.
-
Bella Donnas
Image Credit: Stevie Nicks/Morrison Hotel Gallery "Her choice of set and color combined with a fascinating creative imagination documents a very special time in the history of music," Blachley added.
-
Running Through the Garden
Image Credit: Stevie Nicks/Morrison Hotel Gallery