DAY 205

PORTRAITS

Five Minutes

PHILIPPE STARCK, DESIGNER

On the morning I arrived at London’s Design Museum to photograph the great Philippe Starck, I had no idea how long I would get. It was only while there with many other photographers and journalists, that I was given a slot of five minutes. I asked for the balcony outside the offices, where the interviews were taking place. Luckily, it stopped raining just before my time, and I literally had five minutes to set up. I shot one roll of film, thanked Philippe, and then he was back to interviews inside.

When I looked down at my camera, I saw that the shutter was set too fast for strobes, which meant I could end up with a big black shutter line across my images. I loaded a roll of color slide film and asked if I could have just one more minute with Philippe. He reappeared just as quickly as he had disappeared minutes before, with a black colander that he had designed . . . on his head! He struck a jesterlike pose and quickly moved about as I fired off the camera and strobe to capture his calculated gestures. This image was the last frame and best shot that summed Philippe up. It’s a great memory, made sweeter by the fact that the Design Museum bought this image and now displays it in their boardroom. —SA