“Hi Chris, it’s Linda Tripp”

When you’re sent to photograph someone who has been vilified, it gets complicated, especially if you end up getting on well with them. I made this portrait of Linda Tripp for Newsweek in 1998. There was a “lamb sent to the slaughter” vibe to the shoot, and because of that I couldn’t resist making her look as attractive and likable as possible. 

Here is part of what I wrote about it at the time, “People ask me, ‘What is she like? [She] did a horrible thing, how could you have liked her?’ [I tell them] she’s a human being and she made a choice that made sense to her for whatever reason. And when you meet someone face to face who shows vulnerability, it’s hard to perceive them as evil.”

I think that she appreciated that I was kind to her, and we stayed in touch for a while afterwords. Sometimes she’d leave brief messages on my answering machine. “Hi Chris, it’s Linda Tripp,” opens my most badass mix tape of the late nineties.