Led Zeppelin – Houses Of The Holy

Description

Houses of the Holy became a commercial success, later receiving a Diamond (over 10 million albums sold) certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1999. In 2020, the album was ranked at number 278 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The cover art for Houses of the Holy is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis. This location was chosen ahead of an alternative one in Peru which had also been considered.

The photo shoot featured two children, Stefan and Samantha Gates. It was a frustrating affair over the course of 10 days. Shooting was done first thing in the morning and at sunset in order to capture the light at dawn and dusk, but the desired effect was never achieved due to constant rain and clouds. The photos of the two children were taken in black and white and were multi-printed to create the effect of 11 individuals that can be seen on the album cover. The results were unsatisfactory, but some accidental tinting effects in post-production created a suitable cover.