Original photograph of 'Led Zeppelin IV' discovered

Music
08 Nov 23

Original photograph of<i> 'Led Zeppelin IV' </i> discovered

Photo: Wiltshire Museum

What has been described as '"Led Zeppelin's last remaining myster" has been solved today.

A man depicted on the album cover of Led Zeppelin IV has been revealed as a 19th Century thatcher. The source of this cover art had previously been described as a photograph of a painting, after Led Zepplin's Robert Plant discovered the image in an antique shop in Berkshire.

Released in on this day in 1971, Led Zeppelin IV has sold more than 37 million copies worldwide and includes the one of the most famous rock songs of all time, 'Stairway to Heaven'.

After detailed research by Brian Edward from the University of West England, the figure pictured is most likely Lot Long from Mere in Wiltshire, photographed by Victorian photographer Ernest Farmer.

Brian Edwards, from the University of the West of England (UWE), found the original picture when looking through a photograph album for other research.

"I instantly recognised the man with the sticks - he's often called the stick man," he said.

A long-time fan of British rock band Led Zeppelin, he told BBC Radio Wiltshire "it was quite a revelation".

Led Zeppelin IV

Wiltshire Museum has since acquired the photograph and plans to include it in an exhibition next year.

Edwards - who is part of the regional history centre at UWE in Bristol - explained how he worked out the original photographer was Ernest Farmer, who died in 1944.

The only clue in the photo album was the photographer's name Ernest, but Mr Edwards discovered hundreds of Victorian photographers with that name.

He said the quality of the photos suggested they were taken by a professional, and so he looked for chemists, as many of them were involved in photography.

Mr Edwards discovered a chemist working in Salisbury, close to where the picture was taken, who had a son called Ernest Farmer, and then found his handwriting online.

Mr Farmer was the first head of the school of photography at the Polytechnic Regent Street, now the University of Westminster.

Mr Edwards then set about researching thatchers from that time period, and said his research suggested the man pictured was Lot Long, who died in 1893.

Wiltshire Museum's director, David Dawson, said the exhibition in spring next year will be called 'The Wiltshire Thatcher: a Photographic Journey through Victorian Wessex', and will celebrate Ernest Farmer's work.

"We will show how Farmer captured the spirit of people, villages and landscapes of Wiltshire and Dorset that were so much of a contrast to his life in London" said Dawson

"It is fascinating to see how this theme of rural and urban contrasts was developed by Led Zeppelin and became the focus for this iconic album cover 70 years later," he said.

Today's announcement marks 52 years to the day of the release of Led Zeppelin IV - the discovery has been hailed as the solving of 'Led Zeppelin's last mysetery'.