Joy Division

  Being one of the pioneers of the Post-Punk movement, Joy Division preceded the New Wave era which some of their members went on to form one of the most influential bands of (New Order). In all, through their sound, but also image, Joy Division had significant influence on the evolution of indie as a genre.

  The Gothic image on their Closer album cover represents their bleak and depressing sound. The Gothic is regularly associated with religion and death, and this album cover incorporates both - the original image comes from a sculpture situated in a cemetery in Genoa.
  As is the case with most album covers, the image is 'classical'. This is because it is clearly posed, with the image replicating a sculpture. However, the brutality of the image - there is a man lying dead on the table - makes it slightly 'grotesque'.
  Low-level lighting is used to create a moody feel and illuminate the central figures on the album cover. It gives off the impression of a small amount of light coming from despair. This reflects the music on the album, as the songs are often desolate and depressing, but illuminated by diminutive sparks of hope. The generally melancholic and dark, but occasionally bright colours are still prevalent within the indie genre.

  This image conforms to the staple image of early, as well as many modern, indie bands because of the plain, smart, and generally dark clothing that the band members are all wearing. Additionally, although colour photography was very much established when Joy Division were around, almost all photographs of them are in black and white. This reflects the bleakness and melancholic nature of their music.

  As can be seen in the video above, Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis had a quite irregular dancing style. This conforms to the convention of indie being for "the outsider".