Nirvana's Photographer Kirk Weddle Recalls The Day In Pasadena He Shot Nevermind's Cover (Plus Rare Photos)
See also: Nirvana Little-Known-Facts Revealed: The Band and Jon Stewart Celebrate Nevermind's 20th Anniversary in New York 
Kirk Weddle The Nevermind baby at 10
You might not know his name, but you certainly know his work. On the 20th anniversary of "Smells like Teen Spirit"'s debut on MTV, we spoke with Kirk Weddle, who shot the cover image of Nevermind. This post is full of great pictures from that shoot, plus a particularly rare one at the bottom.
Weddle, who lives in Austin, told us all about the gloomy June day he spent underwater in a dirty pool in Pasadena with Nirvana back in 1991. The label didn't want to fork over $7,500 to license a stock image so they hired Weddle, who shot all of the underwater photographs for $1,000.
What were your impressions of Cobain, Grohl and Novoselic? Were they easy to work with?
Nice bunch of guys. No big entourage. When I shot them they were just getting hot. It was just a couple months after Nevermind was released.
Did anything funny or bizarre moments happen during the shoot?
The shoot was a headache; bad weather, bad swimming pool, cloudy water. Kurt was a couple hours late and then went right to sleep at the side of the pool, and nobody wanted to wake him up. It was a bad call to shoot a rock band in the morning. They were in the middle of a tour and they had to travel as soon as I could wrap the shoot.
Had you heard of Nirvana prior to the shoot? Were you a fan of their music? 
Kirk Weddle
I had never heard of them. It took a little while for me to get into their music. At the time I was listening mostly to old country music and Nirvana ain't country. I saw them live the night before the shoot, and they really blew me away.
Was music played during the shoot?
I don't even know. I was underwater the whole damn day.
Was shooting the baby underwater the main concept or a thought you conceived while shooting? I've heard so many different stories.
Kirk Weddle
I wish I could take credit for the concept of the album. I think Robert Fisher [Art Director at Geffen] and Kurt came up with the idea. It's a very strong concept, a baby underwater, unable to breath, going after the almighty dollar.
This was kind of a low budget job. I had never heard of Nirvana. Not many people had. I was on my own to get the image. Some friends of mine had just had a baby, and they are brave and open people, so I asked if I could photograph their son Spencer. He was four months old and had never been in the water. I set up a camera on a tripod underwater and practiced with a doll. I had a lifeguard in the water right next to the camera. Rick [Spencer's father], tucked little Spencer in the water and gave him a push toward Renta [Spencer mother]. I shot about 10 frames as he peacefully drifted by. Renta pulled him out and we shot one more round and he began to cry. So we quit. I shot that image on half a roll of film.
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