[tonyfoto]

I bumped into this forum earlier today and thought I might reply. I'm the photographer who took the image of GL that's under discussion here. As a rule I don't follow my work and police how folks respond to it.....I'm just happy if they do respond (one way or another).

I'd like, though, to clear up some, what I consider, misinterpretations that your comments seem to be based upon.....sometimes when the media does a piece the actual tone and meaning you intend gets bent out of shape in the process.

I first want to say that GL was a huge presence and influence in my life. When I walked into the room to photograph him, what I had in my mind was the GL I remembered. The man I met was very different from how I had imagined he would be. That, MissyMoppins, was what I was referring to when I talked about the differences between what one might imagine and what one is actually confronted with.

I thought long and hard about how to show the man who was in the room with me that day. Should I ignore what he was showing me and try to make him look like the man I imagined and "remembered"? Or should I, as honestly as possible, try to show what he was showing me. None of you were there that day, and I won't go into detail here, but suffice it to say that he had been ill and was still in the stages of getting it back together. It seemed to me that to ignore the reality of what was in front of me would do no one any favours.

Regarding the pose....he sat like that in the chair.....I took his photograph. When it came to editing the shoot, the image that is under discussion here is the one that best seemed to show the look and feel of my time with him.

And, charlene, I hope I didn't sound petulant or petty. What I was trying to describe during my interview with the writer was just what I talked about above.....that what you think and what the reality is (on any given day) might not be the same. Like I said in the article, meeting and photographing GL was an education for me. Here I was, given the chance to shoot one of my idols but the man I met that day seemed so frail and vulnerable. It really brought home the differences that can exist between the imagination and, for lack of a better word, reality.

In the end, even though he didn't like the image, I think it is that vulnerability and sensitivity and, yes, even frailness, he showed me, along with many other attributes, that make him the great artist he is.