Nirvana. Rolling Stone, 1992 (Mark Seliger )
Drew Barrymore. US Magazine, 1993 (MARK SELIGER)
Mikhail Baryshnikov. From “Listen.” (MARK SELIGER )
As the chief photographer of Rolling Stone from 1992 to 2002, and now a photographer for GQ and Vanity Fair, Mark Seliger is known for taking some of the most iconic celebrity photographs of the last two decades. “It’s really a special life,” he tells The Post. “I have to pinch myself a lot of times.”
Now, Seliger has published “Listen,” a book that’s 180 degrees away from high-concept celebrity portraiture, featuring quiet cityscapes, still lifes and nudes — an artists’ holy trinity — printed with a platinum palladium photographic process popular at the turn of
the century.
Thirty large-scale prints from the book are currently on display at Chelsea’s Steven Kasher Gallery, through Feb. 26.
These new images, says Seliger, are the result of trusting himself in a more abstract way; “allowing what I’ve learned about photography to lead me [to the images].”
The award-winning photographer recently chatted about his new work, but not before we made him dish about some of his favorite celeb shots, seen here.
Fleetwood Mac
Rolling Stone, 1992
“This was for the 25th Anniversary issue, and I think Fleetwood Mac had been together for 25 years, too. The idea of a marriage popped into my head. I knew the history of their record covers and that they were pretty adventurous and interesting. I was told to call Mick Fleetwood, that he was the visual main go-to person. We got on the phone and he said, ‘What are your ideas?’ and I said, ’Maybe this sounds a little strange, but I thought it would be great if we did a traditional wedding portrait.’ Mick pauses and says, ‘I love it. I have just one favor.’ I said, ’Sure, what’s that?’ And he goes, ‘Can I be the bride?’ I knew it was going to be a home run because he was so enthusiastic, and that photo became a starting-off point for me in terms of conceptual celebrity photographs.”
Mikhail Baryshnikov
From “Listen”
“I’m very inspired by movement. For the shoot, we had Baryshnikov moving in slow motion while I would take a four-by-five photograph. With a four-by-five camera, you can’t see what you’re doing; you have to guess how it will record.
“During the shoot we accidentally fired off the lens twice on one piece of film. I thought ‘Oh, God, that sucks, I just lost two great images.’ But then I thought, ‘Wait, that’s really powerful as just one image.’
“It turned into a happy accident. It cemented in a still photograph the idea of sequence of movement, which is how the book came about — not knowing what you are going to get until you get there. And now I’ve started to use double exposures as a technical way of working. I just did one of Elton John.”
Nirvana
Rolling Stone, 1992
“This was a big lesson for me. Be careful when you ask someone not to do something. They are going to do it.
I’d been told that Dave [Grohl] and Krist [Novoselic] were wonderful to work with, but that Kurt [Cobain] was tricky and reluctant. I met them at rehearsal and Dave says, ‘Tell us what you need.’ I said, ‘If there’s any way to wear a T-shirt not with writing on it, that would be great.’
“Dave was like, ‘OK, fine.’ When they showed up, Kurt was wearing his traditional cardigan sweater, the perfect Cobain hair, ripped jeans, and huge sunglasses. Then I looked at the T-shirt. I’m like, ‘Oh, f- – k, I had to open my mouth.’ On the flight back home, I was obsessing over the shirt, but when we got back, they loved it. They flipped out. They loved that pissed-off grunge point of view. I just laughed and thought, ‘Well, maybe I did do something right.’ ”
Drew Barrymore
US Magazine, 1993
“Drew and I have this really special connection. Drew’s great because she is Hollywood. She’s the great muse because she can be a chameleon. She loves to connect to a role and an idea and a story line. And she’s gorgeous. She’s got great lips, a great attitude and great body, which all makes a great story line, too.”