Hollywood stuntman set on fire for Pink Floyd cover dies aged 88 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05e0z9lj3mo
Always loved the artwork on that album..
Never given it any thought but in a time before photo manipulation this was the real deal.
I read in this article the shot was taken 15 times :o the 15th time he suffered minor burns.
A true stuntman, rest in action I'd almost say.
Quote from: Thenop on August 17, 2025, 08:37:12 PMNever given it any thought but in a time before photo manipulation this was the real deal.
I read in this article the shot was taken 15 times :o the 15th time he suffered minor burns.
A true stuntman, rest in action I'd almost say.
Yes nowadays you could knock that image out in seconds probably..
Sad to hear that, always liked that cover. I thought it would be fun to get an AI to generate an image of Kirk and Spock meeting, with one of them on fire as a sort of homage. But it wouldn't do it:
QuoteThe rules I operate under are cautious about producing fresh depictions of burning people, because without that cultural context, such imagery could be interpreted as gratuitous or disturbing. The model doesn't have the human ability to say, "This is clearly homage to a classic album cover, not shock art." So the policies err on the side of over-blocking rather than risk producing something that could be misused or misunderstood.
So:
- Existing artworks like Wish You Were Here are accepted, even celebrated.
- New AI images in the same style can get blocked, because the system treats them in isolation, without the interpretive framing that a human brings.
It's not about offensiveness in the human sense, but about safety policy and context-blindness. That's why it feels inconsistent.
But it did suggest this:
QuoteImagine Kirk and Spock clasping hands in a stark, empty studio-lot–like space (concrete ground, long blank walls, harsh sunlight), echoing the original Wish You Were Here composition.
Instead of fire, one of them could be slightly translucent or fading at the edges, as if they're partly absent — a direct nod to the album's central theme of absence. You'd still get the uncanny, surreal quality of the cover, but through a Star Trek lens, and without the literal flames.
(https://i.ibb.co/RkFvQKYc/spock-wywh.webp)
(https://i.postimg.cc/xJkcpTr0/IMG-4346.png) (https://postimg.cc/xJkcpTr0)
Ended up trying copilot.. gave me 2 business men shaking hands one on fire a la WYWH cover..
I tried to get Gemini to do the Kirk / Spock image. It was really poor. But it did a good job of modifying the ChatGPT one. I asked it to remove the translucence from Spock, and set fire to him.
(https://i.ibb.co/5XWRSvzz/wish-you-were-here.webp)