Joaquin Phoenix says no to hat
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| Joaquin Phoenix © 1998 by Steven Lungley |
500 Weeks #002 – Joaquin Phoenix says no to hat
September 1998. Another September, another Toronto International Film Festival. That year, Eye Weekly - the free, alternative newspaper where I was the main photographer - had a new film editor. I went in to see her - Malene Arpe - in advance of the Festival to chat about what she wanted to see in that year’s photos.
Malene informed me that she had reviewed the previous year's images and was dismayed to find that in all the photos, the people were either sitting or standing.
Long pause as I ponder her comment and reply, “Well, they can’t float.”
Malene went on to detail that she feels the images needed to be different. Maybe I could get the subjects to do something, or wear something that stands out, or I could bring props. Her example was the photo of The Beatles jumping in the air that was shot in 1963 when they were young and not so well known.
I tried to not immediately shoot down her suggestion. This is poker face time.
On one hand I totally agree with her. It would be fun to do different things, and, as I will show in future posts, I love props and staging scenes for a photo. However, the difficulties in trying to accommodate her request at TIFF would be many. Action based photos usually take time and space to execute. In that era of TIFF, access to interview subjects was doled out in fifteen-minute increments. The photos were taken in the cramped confines of a hotel room, after the interview, in the span of approximately 5 minutes or less. It was a challenge to find enough clear space for a headshot. Where was I going to find the space for jumping? How will I back up far enough?
Malene informed me that she had reviewed the previous year's images and was dismayed to find that in all the photos, the people were either sitting or standing.
Long pause as I ponder her comment and reply, “Well, they can’t float.”
Malene went on to detail that she feels the images needed to be different. Maybe I could get the subjects to do something, or wear something that stands out, or I could bring props. Her example was the photo of The Beatles jumping in the air that was shot in 1963 when they were young and not so well known.
I tried to not immediately shoot down her suggestion. This is poker face time.
On one hand I totally agree with her. It would be fun to do different things, and, as I will show in future posts, I love props and staging scenes for a photo. However, the difficulties in trying to accommodate her request at TIFF would be many. Action based photos usually take time and space to execute. In that era of TIFF, access to interview subjects was doled out in fifteen-minute increments. The photos were taken in the cramped confines of a hotel room, after the interview, in the span of approximately 5 minutes or less. It was a challenge to find enough clear space for a headshot. Where was I going to find the space for jumping? How will I back up far enough?
Photos with action or antics also require the trust and cooperation of the subject and their handlers. She wants me to request zany antics and funny faces from performers whose careers are made or broken by how they look on camera. What happens if - as I start breaking out the party hats and asking them to jump - the subject decides to not just reject my ideas, but instead decides to say no to any photo and just walks out the door? Do I still get paid? What do I tell the art director to fill the space with?
An American magazine such as Vanity Fair might be able to use it’s international audience and influence to convince performers and their managers to pose in unusual ways in unique settings. In contrast, as a free weekly publication - one among hundreds - from Canada, distributed in and around only one Canadian city, we have zero pull with the mainly American publicists who control access to the mostly American actors and directors who would be the subjects in these photos. I had spent years trying to cultivate a reputation as a media photographer who respected the schedule and made the photo subjects look good. A few complaints could ruin years of effort.
All of these thoughts flash through my head in an instant. At the same time, I am a freelance contributor, so I shrug my shoulders and respond: “I can try”. And thus began my season of hats and rejections.
Case in point, Joaquin Phoenix, who was in Toronto to promote “Clay Pigeons” a film set in the countryside. I’m not sure what it was about exactly, because I never saw it. You neither? Well, don’t worry, no one else did either.
The photo I was taking of Mr. Phoenix would be printed in the newspaper – along with the interview - the week “Clay Pigeons” opened in theatres. The newspaper gets content, and the film gets promotion. So Malene thought we should bring some sort of straw hat for Mr. Phoenix to wear. But, but, but... you’re all thinking, in the poster for the movie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Pigeons ), the character played by Vince Vaughn wears the straw hat.
I didn’t say the request made sense, I'm just reporting on what happened. My job that day was to just try and keep my editor happy.
So along Malene and I go, and I set up for a photo while she is conducting the interview. When she is finished, it is my turn, and I take a couple of frames of Mr. Phoenix and then try to talk him into wearing the hat, as it is in theme with the movie annnnnnd…. He says no to wearing the hat. But, being a good sport he was willing to hold the hat and kind of point it at the camera.
Personally, I preferred the straight look into the lens, but cannot recall which one ran in the paper. I’m just glad Malene was there to witness my attempt to fulfil her request.
I still have the hat.
Joaquin Phoenix won his first Oscar in February 2020.
Tragically, Malene Arpe passed away in May, 2015:
RIP Malene.
Technical stuff: Camera: Medium format Rolleiflex TLR with 75mm f/3.5 Schneider Xenar lens and outfitted with a Beattie Intenscreen ground glass. Shot on Fujifilm NPH400 colour negative film. Lighting was a combination of window light and a Vivitar 285HV flash being bounced into an umbrella, powered external by a Lumidyne mini-cycler.
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