Natalie Merchant - Carnival

What this video is

Released in June 1995 as the lead single from Natalie Merchant's debut solo album Tigerlily, 'Carnival' marked Merchant's commercial breakthrough as a solo artist following her departure from 10,000 Maniacs in 1993. The video's New York City street-photography conceit directly mirrors the song's lyrical inspiration — Merchant's first visit to NYC at age 16, during which she was fascinated by the spectacle of urban…

Why it matters

A defining visual artifact of the mid-90s adult alternative / AAA radio moment, 'Carnival' demonstrates the music video form's capacity to operate as documentary portraiture. Its verité street-photography aesthetic — desaturated, handheld, rapidly cut — established a grammar that influenced…

The director

Melodie McDaniel (b. 1967, Omaha, NE) is a Los Angeles-based American photographer and film director. She graduated from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, in 1992 with a major in Photography and a minor in Fine Art. Her first professional work was…