FashionClick   Photographer Interview

So it’s more of a natural occurrence, rather than something you have to 'provoke', for example, by creating an atmosphere.

It’s not fake. It’s not fake. It’s a real thing, and it’s a real moment. It’s them relating to me as a person, and then as a photographer and I think it has to come in that order. Also, they obviously have chosen to work with me because they respect my work, but they open up to me because they like me as a person. And I think that helps a lot.

From among all the famous people you have photographed, who – off the top of your head – might you say has impressed you the most?

Hum, you know, I love John Travolta (looking at his picture on the front wall). But what impresses me about anyone of the stars I have worked with, is that they are super famous - well known - and yet, when you meet them, they are very humble and down-to-earth. The mere fact that they’re loving, that they’re caring is what impresses me the most.

After all these years of knowing and meeting famous people are you still impressed by that fact?

Yes, I am impressed with anybody who’s got a loving nature and I appreciate that in any human being, and if I don’t meet-up with that, I am not impressed with his or her celebrityhood [sic]. If people are rude, I’ll leave. I have no problems leaving.

Can you relate to us an anecdote that is not in the book, but that is connected to one of the photographs that do appear in it?

I remember a time I went to shoot Mike Tyson. I had to wait outside his house for a while and when I finally went in, I told them I wanted to shoot outside. So I went on the backyard to look for a place, and suddenly I heard what I thought was a dog running after me. I turned around and it was a tiger! (laughs) This animal came out and jumped at me and I practically - excuse the expression – sh*t myself. Mike came out right after that laughing. He thought it was funny.

In ‘A Private View’ we can see that you have been to our country, Spain, several times. What parts of it do you like the most?

I love Madrid, the people there, but what I really love is the south, Seville. Its flamenco spirit - the gypsy spirit - the sense of everything from religion to the Moorish culture, the landscape. It’s like Southern Italian - or is it Northern Italian? It’s that "caliente" thing that exists down there, that raw passion. That’s what turns me on about Seville.

I love Spain. I love its people. I like the whole energy, the buzz, and can’t wait to go back.

 What is your next project?

I am preparing my first feature film. It’s based on a script I wrote and I hope to start it in the New Year. Its name will be "Cousin Joey". It’s about two

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