Chromogenic print of Lee Perry in the Swiss Alps: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color photograph of Lee “Scratch” Perry in the Swiss Alps, 1989, Zurich, Switzerland.

He is sitting on a large rock with his legs spread far apart. He is wearing black clothes and black boots. He is wearing a red and gold jeweled crown with a red and gold robe with white fur. He is holding a gold scepter in his proper right hand and a sphere with gold details and a cross on top in his left hand. He has dark black hair and a mustache and beard, and he is wearing several metal chains and medallions. There is a Swiss flag waving in the proper top left corner. The foreground is rocky. There is water and snow in the background as well as a snowy mountain top. The sky appears to be foggy.

There is a white border around the image. The border is thicker on the top and bottom and thinner on the two sides. The back of the photograph has two Kodak logos repeated in gold. There is a torn piece of tape at the top on the right side. There is an inscription at the bottom, handwritten by Bill Adler.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1989
• Photograph by: Adrian Boot, British, born 1947
• Subject of: Lee Perry, Jamaican, 1936 - 2021
• Type: chromogenic color prints
• Medium: dye and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 14 1/8 × 11 in. (35.8 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 10 5/8 × 10 9/16 in. (27 × 26.9 cm)
• Place captured: Zurich, Switzerland, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Reggae (Music)
• Object number: 2015.132.157
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Adrian Boot Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.