Eminem, 1999

Today is the anniversary of my first session with Eminem (24 years ago!) .

The fish tank shot has become iconic, but I remember the shoot as complicated.

I had an idea to photograph Eminem as a half man/half woman like the old circus performers. The magazine editor wasn’t convinced and instead suggested “half uptight businessman and half hip-hop street guy."

I expected the stylists to have the wardrobe ready ahead of time, but they didn’t. Instead, they cut and sewed/pinned on the spot. It was a bit of a mess and all of this played out in front of Eminem and his team.

We started with a decent (if strange) idea that got watered down into a cheesy too-literal one.

I also had this other idea, where we simply had him stick his head in a fish tank.

Bottom Image: a recent tattoo from my picture by Polish artist Amanda Piejak