EN 
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By Juan Butten
I clearly remember the first time I encountered the work of Storm Thorgerson in the late 1980s, at my friend Hampton’s house, where his father had a collection of records that fascinated me: from The Beatles and Fania All Stars to Luis Segura (El Añoñaito). It was a Saturday when I saw the cover of Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, an LP that was almost like new and immediately caught my attention. The stark image of a man on fire greeting another exuded mystery and beauty; two men shaking hands left me speechless.
I read the credits and discovered that the design was done by Hipgnosis, a studio founded by Thorgerson and his partner Aubrey “Po” Powell. For me, someone who at that moment didn’t know what art was, that image was everything. I was born in December 1975, just a few months after the album was released in September. However, the sound of Pink Floyd resonated as if it were contemporary, as if it had come to me from the past, pushing me to explore the band’s discography further. Although my friend’s father didn’t have all the albums, he had some of the most important ones:
- The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
- Obscured by Clouds (1972)
- Wish You Were Here (1975)
- Animals (1977)
- The Wall (1979)
Every time I visited my friend, I immersed myself in those covers, each one a masterpiece in its own right, a universe I longed to explore. I’m not sure if it was my love for that cover, but to this day, Wish You Were Here remains one of my favorite albums by the band.
The stories behind the creation of the Wish You Were Here cover are as fascinating as the image itself. The idea behind the cover reflects how people hide their true feelings, fearing “burning out.” To convey this idea, Thorgerson and Powell decided to photograph two businessmen shaking hands, with one of them on fire. To achieve this, they used two special effects specialists. One of them, dressed in a fireproof suit, was in the midst of the flames, protected only by a hood and a wig. I remember reading that, in one of the takes, the wind changed direction and the flames almost reached his face. That image captured the essence of a moment, a reflection of the struggle in the music industry.
Thorgerson, born in 1944, didn’t just design covers; he built visual narratives. Each image told a story, challenging logic and taking us to a dreamlike world. The famous prism pyramid of The Dark Side of the Moon is another example of his mastery, a symbol of light and darkness that invites deep reflections on human existence. However, for me, Wish You Were Here is the cover I like the most in his entire discography.
Thorgerson’s influence has gone beyond music, inspiring a generation of artists and graphic designers. His break with conventional album cover design has led to greater experimentation, transforming the image into an extension of the musical message. His work reflects not only aesthetic trends but also social and cultural changes that have shaped our times.
Today, looking back, I see Storm Thorgerson not just as a graphic designer, but as a visionary. His legacy endures, inviting us to explore the stories that his images tell. Each cover is an open door to a world full of creativity and reflection, reminding us that art, in all its forms, always has something more to offer.
