Good photography contradicts and unites. Behind me is the work of photographer Joel Baldwin, often referred to as Black Man and White Dove. Designed by John Berg (who, by the way, created over 700 album covers—look him up on Discogs if you want to lose a few hours), this image graced Santana’s Greatest Hits (1974).
Santana chose this Joel Baldwin photograph instead of their own faces—a bold move for 1974, with the U.S. deep in the Vietnam War and cultural rebellion boiling at home. The image holds both holiness and humanity. It’s tender—impossibly tender—yet anchored in strength.
On the back of the album, the dove is free and flying—photographed by another legend, Jay Maisel (Miles Davis, among many others).
Do the front and back feel like a conversation? A story? A beginning—or an end?
Or maybe both images can be true in the same moment?
Captivity and release.
Body and spirit.
Ambition and surrender.
With tyranny, racism, and unrest still circling us—
can we ever truly be free?
