Danny Devito, Hollywood, CA, 1989. Danny Devito is a producer, a director an actor, and he came from nowhere—well actually...he came from New Jersey. We have that in common, except he’s also this really talented, funny, eccentric guy.I shot him and Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner for the War of the Roses movie ads. It was a high-energy shoot, super playful and wacky as you can tell from the pictures. But when I got Danny solo, he was willing to slow down with me. I had him smoking a cigarette—in fact, I had him smoking cigarette after cigarette, because once I got into it, I knew this was the shot, and we had to get it.I shot him in every direction, but the profile was just perfect as the smoke wafted up into the light. I didn’t want the air conditioning, his breath, or anything that was going on in the studio to change the beauty of the slow, wafting smoke. So we shot it again and again, and as he was waiting for me to set back up, he blew a smoke ring. I was like, “Oh my god, THAT is the shot.” This beautifully still smoke rising in the air, with a smoke ring hanging there effortlessly—if effortlessly meant going through a whole pack of smokes.This was before digital and we couldn’t be sure we had the shot. But it was one of those moments where I knew in my gut that we had it. And it’s a beautiful photograph, but it’s also accompanied by this memory for me of just stillness and calm—with Danny Devito, of all people.
Related
Related
Related
Related