King 5 reports that there is a new photo exhibit featuring artists like Layne Staley and Alice In Chains, along with Chris Cornell and Soundgarden.
Photographer Paul Hernandez shot promo and candid pictures of bands during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
“All these beautiful men with these beautiful voices all came to earth at the same time in the same city. It’s like, ‘Okay, how’d this happen?’” he said.
“To remember where we came from, who we were, what we were,” Hernandez said.
Alice in Chains was the first grunge band he shot back in 1988, after seeing them perform.
“I had to pull my pants back on because they were completely blown off,” he said. “(The music) was almost locomotive like, it was powerful, it was coming out you.”
That inspired his choice of what would become a famous photo background for Alice In Chains: train tracks.
Hernandez went on to shoot Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Duff McKagan.
But his closest connection remained his first subjects – especially frontman Layne Staley.
“Layne was an old soul. He’s an angelic human being. He’s the only angelic man I’ve ever met,” Hernandez said. “Losing people is not an easy thing for me.”
That’s one reason he packed away his negatives. But as Alice In Chains is celebrating 25 years and releasing a new album this week, he thought the time was right to revisit the past.
