Scott Norton Taylor: Mick Jagger

Saturday, 13 July 2013

Harry Styles looks like a young Mick Jagger

We love to compare people. We have a need to categorize people into types and then take it further to individuals.

We're so quick to ask if whoever is a new version of someone who's gone before. We do this because we want our heroes, our idols, those who really blazed a trail and left an impression on our lives, we want those bright stars to do it all again.

Who wouldn't want the Beatles to ride again and produce all those amazing hits, or someone with the charisma of Elvis or the extraordinary vocals of Babs or Whitney to pass our way again?

The originals make a huge splash and create such a shadow to be chased and mirrored by those who come after that we cheer each new hopeful stepping up to the plate. And the funny thing is, if someone is of the same caliber they blaze so bright they eventually become their own original.

So who's the latest to throw their hat into the ring? If you go on looks alone then Mick's incredible journey is about to be recreated by another? There's an awful long way to go, but if you believe the media, he's off to a very good start.

And once you start comparing people on just their superficial looks it become a little addictive.....

Justin Bieber Ricky Nelson Elvis

Young Justin Bieber Young Donny Osmond

Hmmmmm - that's just getting silly.

Saturday, 30 June 2012

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards ageing equals great art.

A few years ago in a contemporary gallery in Poland I saw an amazing piece of art that has never really left me. You walked into a room that was essentially an extension of a bay window. The shape of that room gave it a natural flow and people would follow a series of photos of the same person at various ages of his life. The figure was a male. The photos were all the same, same light, same, pose, same outfit with the subject wearing a white top and looking directly into the lens. What was remarkable was the way the pictures were taken to be timeless. You couldn't tell what year they were taken - in fact they were taken in such a way to make you feel they were all recent. But the subject had miraculously aged. He began as a young man and then every ten years or so another picture would show him older and the thing that hit you was that in the space of a few seconds from your first pictorial meeting with this man, you had seen him age a lifetime. I found it a remarkable piece of art, but also found it moving and quite sad. It certainly made me think about my own mortality.

Then I watched an old SNL show with Mick Jagger and I wondered how many times he's felt the exact same thing through the media - but in his case, he is the ageing subject... so it needed to be the subject of a post. I added Keith as well so Mick wouldn't feel lonely. Enjoy!