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I knew David very well, but I had never had a real opportunity to shoot Fripp. This was in a hotel room in Milano in between press interviews. Fripp surprised everybody in the room, including David, when he started recollecting the quite infamous anecdote about Agnetha of ABBA. Yes, the one you hear in the movie Priscilla. I'll say no more.
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Zappa has always been one of my heroes and in 1982 I set out to put him on the cover of the prestigious Uomo Vogue magazine. No mean feat as 1982 was the year that Armani and Italian fashion exploded worldwide and FZ was not exactly what youd expect on Vogue. He lay down on dozens of music parts for orchestra that he was very proud of (at the time no orchestra had ever played any of his music, with the exception maybe of Pierre Boulez). The title of the one hes holding says it all: Zappa The Perfect Stranger.
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Jeff Buckley was quite impressed when I told him I did photograph his father Tim back in 1974. What a remarkable and unique talent he and his father had in common and how ominous this photo is now knowing we would soon lose him. This was shot during the rehearsals in a club in Milano, on the eve of his first ever Italian concert.
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Another hero of mine and a true original, John Martyn agreed to be photographed in his backyard, somewhere in London. He was nervous and distraught as he was going through the motions of separation from his wife Beverly. By the way, is that a spliff?
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At the end of an unheard-of full day of shooting, Joni showed me the huge living room in her Bel Air house. She had just been shot by Herb Ritts for an all star Gap campaign and she hadnt resisted painting over the posters. So I asked her to dress up exactly like in Ritts photo and proceeded to shoot her from above. She stopped me, grabbed a few brushes and started doing wild things with them. Years later she laughed, saying her husband had noticed she had her jeans fly open!
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Two of my favourite artists of all time and longtime friends too. I wanted to shoot them together with the most intimate and direct approach. This photo was taken during their only tour together in 2002. It was shot in a corridor backstage, after the concert, at 1.30am, when I had lost any hope this would ever happen. Another one of my favorite images.
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As serious and quiet as you may expect him to be, Leonard Cohen has a great sense of humour and lots of self-irony. We did several great shoots and there was very rarely any need for me to direct me as he'd always come up with funny ideas. He knew I wouldnt go just for straight or formal poses. This is one of my favorites.
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Between 1978 and 1982 Dire Straits became instantly huge in Italy, let alone worldwide. I shot the band many times and they allowed me to stay with them at Power Station studios in New York while recording the Making Movies album. I got to shoot Mark while he was actually recording his guitar parts on Telegraph Road. We got on very well and he wasnt bothered by my noisy presence in the studio with him.
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Nick Cave in the 90s at the time of Henrys Dream. He remained speechless for the whole shoot and was only worried by his swelling right hand which had been stung by a bee.
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1996 was the year when Patti Smith made her big comeback with Gone Again after a long and painful period of personal losses. She was adorable in the company of her bandmates, her kids and longtime friends Tom Verlaine and Michael Stipe. She accepted to be photographed and was very appreciative of our photographs.
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This is one of my signature photographs. Peter Gabriel in full Shock The Monkey make-up in a hotel gents in Sanremo where he was due to perform that song at the famous music festival. A bunch of images from this shoot later appeared on tour programs and on the remastered edition of Peter's 4th album.
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Meeting Robert Wyatt was one of the most moving experiences ever. While in Milano to promote his Wrong Movements book, he suddenly started crying as he heard some Soft Machine music playing in the background. He appeared as a very fragile and desperate man. As we wandered in the park with his wife Alfie we saw this huge leafless tree. As I positioned him and his wheelchair near the tree, I thought I'd shoot him as one with the old tree to get an idea of solitary but fierce strength.
