An interview with Gorman:
[h=1]Greg Gorman: as a Photographer You have to Boost Celebs’ Egos a Little[/h]
Greg Gorman, Julianne Moore, Dublin 2004, copyright Greg Gorman
Few photographers can claim to have worked so intimately with some of the world’s greatest entertainers. Greg Gorman is one of them and for the first time in Germany he’s showing 25 of his colour portraits of popular culture figures including John Waters, Grace Jones and David Bowie at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin. His exhibition “Color Works” starts today, alongside “Pages from the Glossies”, a show displaying Newton’s iconic fashion photography for print that spans four decades.
We met Gorman in advance of the opening to discuss Michael Jackson’s creative input in photo sessions, why Leonardo DiCaprio is a great subject and why a photographer also has to play the role of a psychologist.
Sleek: you’re better known for your black and white photography. Why the transition?
Greg Gorman: I wanted to do something different from what people expected of me and most of these works are actually commissions, some for movies, album covers, some for my personal collection.
Greg Gorman, Mick Jagger, Daylight Wall, Los Angeles 1984, Copyright Greg Gorman
Helmut Newton was a close friend of yours, what was your friendship like?
When Helmut hit his first show in Los Angeles in 1975 for “White Women” I went to the opening and met him there that night for the first time. I was always a fan of his work in terms of what he’d accomplished, his classic image making and how prolific he was as an artist. We became friends and I got to know June [Helmut Newton’s wife] and had a lot dinner parties in my home in LA, up I the Hollywood Hills.
Helmut Newton, The Story of American Vogue 1975, copyright Helmut Newton Estate
One of the things that always amazed me with Helmut, which is very different to my style, is how concise and conservative he was with his captures. From what I understand he wouldn’t take a lot pictures. He’d only use two rolls of film in his shootings. When you’re working with celebrities and fashion sometimes it takes a longer of time, so I personally tend to take many more pictures. But I certainly loved his stark black and white, energetic and S&M-like images.
How much talking do you have to do with your sitters?
I have to do a hell of a lot of talking. I mean, a part of my job is to play the role of a psychologist and try to get into their heads and be able to bring them to my level and draw out of them who they are as individuals. I just establish a sort of a banter and try to make them feel comfortable and relaxed so that they trust me and have confidence in me and vice versa and that will allow me to do my things and also for them to feel good about themselves. You have to boost their egos a little bit because they’re often much more comfortable playing a character than themselves.
Greg Gorman, Michael Jackson, Los Angeles, 1987. Available for purchase
here
Which was the most challenging session out of all of these?
Most of these people were all pretty good but some were a little intimidated before I met them. Bette Davis insisted on meeting one day before the shoot. I’ve only worked with very few super challenging people (to the point that I didn’t like them) and they’re of course not in this show.
How was Michael Jackson?
It was an interesting story with Michael. I’d worked with him over the years and he really liked my pictures and I loved working with him, he was a real artist. He took photography very seriously and prior to our shoots and we’d talk for hours on the phone about what we were gonna do, how we’d go about it. He’d have ideas and we’d spring them together. He loved my female and male nudes and he wanted to shoot something provocative but obviously not a nude so that’s how it came about. It’s never been seen before. He was very easy to work with, never in a rush and always very direct.
Greg Gorman, David Bowie, New York, 1984. Available for purchase
here
What have been the most memorable moments of every decade of your career?
That’s a tough one. Well, I started in the late 1960s by shooting Jimi Hendrix; in the 70s I moved to California and finished college with a degree in film but realising that I was too much of control freak to pursue that career and going back to photography.
In the late 70s I started working for a PR agency and that’s when I shot Bowie for the first time, and Iggy Pop, which launched things but it was in the 80s when my career really took off, shooting for big film campaigns including Scarface. In the 90s I worked lots with the Bond movies and towards the mid 2000s I thought I’d been there and done that and started my teaching. After that doing workshops and making wine; I have a real passion for wine.
Greg Gorman, Grace Jones, Close Up, Los Angeles 1989, copyright Greg Gorman
When you say you’re a control freak, you mean?
I like to know that every aspect of the photograph has part of my imprint in it, from the hair to the styling.
So you also do hair and makeup?
I don’t do any of that [laughs] but I have my team who reproduce my vision.
What can you say about Grace Jones? Her makeup looks great.
Grace Jones has been a very dear friend of mine for the last 35 years or so. I recently went to Jamaica where I did the book cover for her memoirs actually. Just like in any profession a lot a times you get so caught up in the work you do that you end up becoming good friends with the people you work with. So a lot of the people on the walls are my friends and Grace is a very good one. A lot of people have many different impressions of her but she’s very down to earth, with great sense of humour and doesn’t take herself too seriously and yet she’s been able o maintain her mystique all these years.
Portrait of Greg Gorman
How about Leonardo DiCaprio, was he fun?
I worked with him from the very beginning of his career. I love Leo because he was never particularly caught up in being too masculine of too feminine in a picture. He was one of the people who I thought really evolved in front of the camera and was never shy or regimented and that made for a very good subject in front of the lens.
And after a series of photo books and making wine what’s next for you?
I guess more books and more teaching. I’m currently making cabernet sauvignon and will probably start making some pinot noir and keep improving on my wine.
http://www.sleek-mag.com/showroom/2...apher-you-have-to-boost-celebs-egos-a-little/
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