Tim Hailand was commissioned by Tracy Chapman to create the cover of her CD "Telling Stories".

Tim Hailand is telling us how he came to to create the cover image for Tracy:

"I first met Tracy Chapman in the spring of 1999, through a mutual friend. Tracy and I met at the gallery, and I showed her my work. She ended up acquiring the "HOME" image (which can be seen on my site) for herself. I have always been impressed with Tracy's talent, and was flattered when she bought a piece of mine.

It was many months later, the 4th of July to be exact, and I was riding the underground train on my first night in Berlin. My mobile phone rang, it was a call from San Francisco, asking if I would do the cover of Tracy's upcoming album. I was thrilled and of course said yes!

I flew out to Los Angeles that fall and went into the studio with Tracy to
listen to tracks from what would become "Telling Stories". As you all know, Tracy has a very distinctive and rich voice. It was wonderful to sit and listen with her to various tracks, a really amazing voice. I particularly liked the line from "Telling Stories": 'the science fiction in the space between... I immediately thought of the sky, of words floating in it. Tracy had a similar vision, and I set out to work. I worked in L.A. for a week, shooting images all over the place. My process is very simple, I place small letters on a sheet of plexi-glass, and shoot through it. I find the end result more beautiful than photoshop, and a more simple and romantic process.
Tracy and I would meet and look at the days work. We narrowed it down to about 15 images, 5 of which made it into the beautifully designed CD booklet. The cover image was moody and dark, with spots of light popping up, just like life itself can at times feel. I feel this image summed up the feel of the songs, at least the title track.

It's always great when people respond
to my work, but when someone as tremendously talented as Tracy does, it's
even more flattering. It was nice in my travels around the globe to see this
image pop up all over the place. A very good experience for me."

TIM HAILAND, March 09 2002

Tracy Chapman, interviewed by L'Express about the cover of "Telling Stories" :

L'Express : "The cover of your album is a photo of a city, at night, dominated by those words "Telling Stories". We cannot see your portrait neither your name. Why ?"

Tracy Chapman : "I was looking for a neutral image so that the different meanings of the title could be possible to anyone. Telling Stories means telling a story, one's own story or other's one. Or telling a lie to ourselves or to others without being aware of it. The reality is not necessarily real. We think that we're seeing things as they are, but do we have all the keys to judge the truth ?"

Below, other Tim Hailand "Telling Stories" works (viewable in the album booklet):

In Tim's "word pieces", we find words floating in the sky, sprawled on a beach, imbedded in various landscapes. Little poems or passing thoughts, floating, or mixed up with everyday life. Snapshots in a constantly moving world, reflexions, a look, clues to rethink what we already know (ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE) or a redirection of our thoughts (BELIEVE).

A very limited edition (7 prints) of "TELLING STORIES" was printed through Tracy's kind permission, and are available for purchase. A few prints are available from this series. For information on how to purchase this image, email Tim directly at: timhailand@aol.com.

Here are a few examples of his work, for more, go to www.timhailand.com