Mark Seliger, Rolling Stone's former chief photographer, found a spot that gave him a different view of the famous, writes Sunanda Creagh.
After 10 years as Rolling Stone's chief photographer, Texas-born Mark Seliger is used to getting the right shot by giving explicit instructions to his famous subjects. But some are harder to direct than others.
His new book and exhibition, In My Stairwell, offers a rare peek into his celebrity-studded career and underlines his ability to get famous people to let their guard down in front of the camera. His subjects, a who's-who of the art and entertainment scene, include celebrity artists Jeff Koons, Chuck Close and Matthew Barney, Hollywood stars Adrien Brody, Woody Allen and Susan Sarandon and rockers Lou Reed, David Byrne and Chris Martin."When I shot Nirvana in Melbourne once, I asked Kurt Cobain to a wear a T-shirt without writing on it because he was always writing the names of his favourite bands on his T-shirt," says Seliger. Instead, Cobain coolly reached for his Texta.
"He wrote 'Corporate magazines still suck' on the shirt. And he wouldn't take it off."
Seliger's life is a series of encounters with famous actors, musicians, comedians and models of the past 20 years. During his stint at Rolling Stone - a period in which he "really found my legs" - he shot more than 100 covers. Not all of them were successful.
"One time I shot this cover which was supposed to be the titans of metal. I built this big set with fire and a huge iron cross, and got the lead singers from Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer. I had fire bursting out all over it," he says enthusiastically. "I guess the fire was too hot for my camera, though. It changed the focus, none of the shots came out and I had to re-shoot the whole thing."
Seliger paid $US15,000 of his own money to restage and reshoot it, flames and all. "The sad part is they never ran it."
The project began when Seliger bought a building in Manhattan and began renovations. When the builders removed a lift they revealed a "beautiful light-drenched shaft" which was turned into a stairwell.
Seliger began using the area as a backdrop for magazine shoots and other freelance work. The first person he photographed there was David Bowie.
"We were shooting another job, a picture for the MTV Awards and we had him [bowie] dressed as a character from an opera scene," says Seliger. "I said, 'Why don't we run upstairs and take a quick picture in the stairwell.' We just did maybe 20 shots top and that was the picture that he liked.
"He was just an amazing, amazing guy. He was extremely generous and always moving into character. He was sort of the ultimate artist, he's very aware of film and photography and he has a great sense of what it involves."
The stairwell soon became one of Seliger's favourite backgrounds. He believes the unchanging background of exposed brick leaves room for the subject's personality to shine.
Another subject, Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, stares deadpan into the camera, suspended by two meat hooks inserted into his chest.
"Knoxville was great. He had a couple of early morning cocktails," says Seliger. The actor vomited seven times during the shoot.
"You learn a lot about the subject's personality during a shoot, the way people look and move and what those gestures mean. Everything has a little discovery," he says. "In the stairwell, even though the time is short, those nuances they let off really became the design of the photograph."
Are actors harder to shoot than musicians?
"A little bit. I think a lot of musicians have a kind of a specific attitude in terms of who they are and what they are, while actors have the ability to be chameleons, to transfer or be directed. Conceptually, they can take an idea and move it into something that becomes visual," he says.
Comedians are almost always in character, says Seliger. His shot of Jerry Seinfeld shows him sprawled in a slapstick fall, his keys and phone spilling onto the stone floor. Mel Brooks stares intently at the lens, using his comb to imitate a Hitler moustache. "Doesn't he look great? He literally just took his comb out and did that."
Seliger has shot the cream of the arts and entertainment world - singer PJ Harvey is the only one he's still chasing - and says he hasn't had a disappointed customer. Well, none he knows about. "Probably that happens. But I think people are too nice to tell me."
In My Stairwell is at Sandra Byron Gallery, 11/2 Danks Street, Waterloo, until September 9.
The stairwell soon became one of Seliger's favourite backgrounds. He believes the unchanging background of exposed brick leaves room for the subject's personality to shine.
Another subject, Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, stares deadpan into the camera, suspended by two meat hooks inserted into his chest.
"Knoxville was great. He had a couple of early morning cocktails," says Seliger. The actor vomited seven times during the shoot.
"You learn a lot about the subject's personality during a shoot, the way people look and move and what those gestures mean. Everything has a little discovery," he says. "In the stairwell, even though the time is short, those nuances they let off really became the design of the photograph."
Are actors harder to shoot than musicians?
"A little bit. I think a lot of musicians have a kind of a specific attitude in terms of who they are and what they are, while actors have the ability to be chameleons, to transfer or be directed. Conceptually, they can take an idea and move it into something that becomes visual," he says.
Comedians are almost always in character, says Seliger. His shot of Jerry Seinfeld shows him sprawled in a slapstick fall, his keys and phone spilling onto the stone floor. Mel Brooks stares intently at the lens, using his comb to imitate a Hitler moustache. "Doesn't he look great? He literally just took his comb out and did that."
Seliger has shot the cream of the arts and entertainment world - singer PJ Harvey is the only one he's still chasing - and says he hasn't had a disappointed customer. Well, none he knows about. "Probably that happens. But I think people are too nice to tell me."
In My Stairwell is at Sandra Byron Gallery, 11/2 Danks Street, Waterloo, until September 9.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au
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