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Music

Someone Famous Died Right Here

Carey Gough's morbid new photo project documents the death sites of bygone rock icons.

Unlike your common music photographer with a DSLR, Flickr account, and press pass, Carey Gough's latest project isn't about capturing a moment in the presence of famous musicians—she's into their absence.

For her new series Just Passing Through, the Kentucky-native travelled the globe snapping photos at the seemingly-mundane death sites of iconic artists like Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones, and Joy Division's Ian Curtis.

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While Gough was finishing up her photography degree, she became inspired by the anniversary of Eddie Cochran's death (if you didn't know, Cochran was a 50s rocker who died in an awful car wreck). Gough changed her focus from fan-inspired music photography to something more metaphysical. The subject matter may seem maudlin, but that morbidity is tempered by Gough’s beautifully articulated philosophy behind her work. On her webstie, Gough states:

"This work highlights the embedded history held in architecture and landscapes. In these seemingly ordinary spaces, monumental moments of loss in popular music occurred. These places have become sites of pilgrimage where fans can pay tribute to musical heroes. This provides a kind of intimacy of investment knowing the fan has traveled to such a spot and shared the same environment once inhabited by the one they admire."

The best-selling big bandleader Glenn Miller disappeared while flying over the English Channel on December 15th, 1944.

Rockabilly heartthrob Eddie Cochran died here when his speeding taxi blew a tire and smashed into a pole on April 17th, 1960 in Chippenham, UK.

Johnny Kidd, the first British rocker to achieve worldwide fame pre-Beatles, was killed here in a head-on collision with another vehicle on October 7th, 1966 in the UK.

On February 3rd, 1967, the English producer and songwriter Joe Meek killed his London landlady and then himself on the 8th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death.

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Brian Jones, founding member of the Rolling Stones, drowned in his swimming pool on July 3rd, 1969 in Hartfield, UK. The official cause of death was "death by misadventure."

Jimi Hendrix asphyxiated on his own vomit in this building after ingesting massive amounts of sleeping pills and wine in London, September 18th, 1970.

Jim Morrison's Parisian apartment, where he was found dead in the bathtub on July 3rd, 1971.

Billy Murcia, original drummer for the New York Dolls, died here by asphyxiation on November 6th, 1972, after being force-fed coffee in an attempt to revive him from an accidental overdose.

Marc Bolan, frontman of T. Rex and pioneer of glam rock, died in London on September 16th, 1977, after his girlfriend Gloria Jones lost control of their vehicle on this stretch of road.

Ian Curtis, frontman of Joy Division, hanged himself in his kitchen at this house in Cheshire, UK, possibly as a result of his failing health and floundering marriage.

Serge Gainsbourg died of a heart attack here at his Paris home on March 2nd, 1991.

Freddie Mercury died here, from pneumonia complications as a result of AIDS on November 24th, 1991.

Manic Street Preachers' guitarist Richey Edwards was last seen checking out of the Embassy Hotel in London in 1995.

You can see more of Carey Gough's work at her website.

@sashahecht