Spinner

Vampire Weekend 'Contra' Cover Girl Speaks Out About That Photo

The retired model whose image Vampire Weekend appropriated for their second album's artwork has once again said she did not give consent for her photo to adorn the cover of 'Contra'.

As reported by Spinner in July, Ann Kirsten Kennis is suing Vampire Weekend, the photographer Tod Brody who claims to have taken the shot, and the band's London-based label XL Recordings for $2 million (£1.3 million).

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kennis revealed it was her 13-year old daughter Alex who discovered the picture. At first the former model was happy to see her daughter getting a kick out of it, but she soon grew angry the more she realised she was being used as the figurehead for the New York band's promotional campaign.

Kennis said, "It felt like someone was exploiting me. Who do these people think they are that they can just take my picture from God only knows where and plaster it everywhere?"

According to Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij the cover was chosen to make a point to the sceptics. He told Vanity Fair last year, "It's a f--- you to all the people who are waiting to analyze our band in a superficial way."

That's not how Kennis sees it. The 52-year old said, "You start to see interviews from fans of the band, and they are like, 'I would just be glad that my picture was on it.' Well, not really. They are using it for their gain."

Kennis' lawsuit states that the band bought the photo for $5,000 (£3,200) from Tod Brody, a New York photographer and film-maker. He claims to have taken the shot while casting for a commercial in 1983. He said, "We probably saw 20 or 30 [models] that day. I don't think I held on to any of the other [Polaroids] from that day. I wish I had, frankly, because they all would have been taken up against the same wall."

The photographer continued, "Just like Vampire Weekend thought it was a cool photo, I thought it was a cool photo."

Kennis on the other hand has no recollection of the alleged casting session and continues to contest Brody's claims, "It's not even like it's a Polaroid before a photo shoot, because the hair's not done, the makeup's not done, the lighting's not done. Nothing. It almost looks like somebody caught me by surprise."

She added, "The other thing that's strange about this photo is that it's not taken [in front of a] seamless [back-drop] like it would be in a photographer's studio. You can see a door frame there and hinges right in the background."

All the Vampire Weekend info you want to know

President Obama's Celebrity Wish List…

Spinner

JEWEL SAMAD, AFP/Getty Images President Barack Obama may be up against an…

Arcade Fire and Cee Lo Green to Perform…

Spinner

Gus Stewart, Redferns Arcade Fire will rock the Grammy stage for the first…

Black Keys Battle Vampire Weekend for…

Spinner

Gino DePinto, AOL | Karl Walter, Getty Stephen Colbert is a Grammy voter this…

See all Vampire Weekend »

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

2 Comments

Filter by:
jon

this guy brody is an obvious sociopath and liar.....the new details in vanity fair now hint that the band certainly didn't ask many questions about the photo release. Pay this lady you creeps

September 01 2010 at 4:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mark

Casting call polaroids can be shot in any environment. It's a Polaroid. I don't think any proffesional shoots were shot on instant Polaroid at that time. It's a great photo! And a great band!

August 28 2010 at 10:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply