Christina Aguilera Album Cover- Hurt

On the front of a pop album you would expect to see a picture of the star and the artists name. This is true of Christina Aguilera, whose album covers all have a picture of her on and her name on the front. With this they are selling the album on what she looks like, and like with her music videos they are trying to build upon her star image that is created both with her music and outside of it. You can also see the evolution of her star image thorough the album covers. On the first album she looks like the typical girl next door, with her blonde hair and with minimal make up on, whilst the next album, ‘Stripped’ is a complete change with her with no top on, long dirty hair and chaps on, whilst the final two albums, ‘Back to Basics’ and ‘Hurt’ are of her with platinum blonde hair and red lipstick and heavy eyeliner on, showing how her transformation.

On the front cover of ‘Hurt’ Christina is sitting in a circus ring. She is trying to show how she has become more theatrical and so has her music. This could be because she is trying to show a complete departure from the music that she has made in the past, but still like her other album she still appears on the front cover. The photograph is taken with a red light shining from behind her, suggesting that the spot light is on her and she is the centre of attention.

The main colour on the album cover is red. The photograph is taken with a red light and there is she has both red lips and red nails. The use of this colour adds drama to the cover and makes the picture seem more theatrical, just like she is trying to portray through the picture.

Looking at these album covers will be helpful when we are creating our own for our video because it has helped us think about the conventions of a album cover for a pop star. The use of one colour is also useful in showing us how a atmosphere can be created through a picture.