“In 1997, a man walked through my studio doors in Chicago and changed my career,” says American photographer Sandro Miller. That man was actor John Malkovich.
“John has given me the freedom to create and to use my knowledge as a photographer to explore and push boundaries both in stills and motion.”
This creative playground is revealed in Malkovich: Then Came John, the latest book to feature Sandro’s “muse.” Yet, it is much more than a collection of extraordinary photographs shot over three decades. It is the story of the meeting of two inspired minds. Of crazy, improbable and at times almost impossible artistic feats brought to life. And of a friendship and collaboration that endures across time and space.
The pair met when Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company commissioned Sandro to photograph Malkovich. Casting his mind back to that first encounter, Sandro recalls the shoot was around the time the film Con Air was released. “John had played this horrifying murderous sociopath, Cyrus “the Virus” who literally scared the shit out of most of us. He played the character to such perfection I imagined he might resemble this maniac,” he laughs. “Wow was I ever wrong. John entered the studio, alone, no entourage, no manager. I remember meeting him at the door, each of us extending our hands in greeting. In a soft, gentle voice he introduced himself. He was the antithesis of the Con Air character.” Open and curious, kind and accommodating, Malkovich exuded none of the pretence that Sandro had experienced dealing with other celebrities.
Since then, they have come together many times, Malkovich providing Sandro with a “blank canvas. In truth I didn’t really know if I would ever get the chance to work with John again,” reveals Sandro. “In the back of my mind, it was just all a wild dream to think of having John as my muse.” As Sandro’s Malkovich-inspired oeuvre affirms, dreams do come true.
Malkovich has worked with Sandro on projects influenced by Plato through to the work of filmmaker David Lynch. The most well-known collaboration is Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to Photographic Masters, a collection of iconic photographs from the 20th century recreated by Sandro, an unparalleled artistic feat. Another body of work that features in the new book is from the short film Psychogenic Fugue, where Sandro directed Malkovich who took on eight eclectic characters from Lynch’s films including Frank Booth and the Elephant Man. There are also selections from other projects including Frolic and Frantic.
In Then Came John Malkovich writes “I am delighted I have had the opportunity and the great pleasure to collaborate with him (Sandro) on so many different and compelling projects. He is a fantastic colleague and friend, a great storyteller and a wonderfully gifted seeker and finder of truths.”
In a Zoom interview with Malkovich, who is currently in Bulgaria directing a play, the actor tells me that after the first shoot with Sandro he was open to doing more. “I just found I really liked his ideas, his notions that were funny and strange and beautifully shot, fantastically well researched and thought through. His ideas are very original, very inventive. They’re not things I would have come up with.”
Asked how he sees his role in their collaborations, Malkovich reflects on Homage, the epic project he and Sandro worked on over a number of years, an idea that came to Sandro while he was undergoing treatment for Stage Four cancer more than a decade ago.
“I am a figure in someone else’s dream,” says Malkovich. “These are Sandro’s ideas and he’s very clear about what he wants…It’s not just the physical manifestation of the photo…he’s an excellent director, eliciting what he wants to see from inside the photograph, the aura.” This last point Malkovich emphasises, explaining that Sandro’s capacity to convey and capture the quintessence of the character within the frame is where the true craft lies. It is also part of the attraction of working together, Sandro’s skill in articulating his vision fusing with Malkovich’s talent to evoke another’s identity.
While Malkovich’s respect for Sandro is obvious, it is also clear that he delights in the creative process. The artistic vision might be Sandro’s, but Malkovich reveals that he loves getting involved in hair and makeup. I ask him why and he smiles. “Well, that’s a great question, no one has asked me that before.”
“I do think that really even before the first blink, is where you kind of win or lose. You give an impression of a character and of how that character exists in the world, moves in the world. What does the viewer see? Physically in that first second, or even millisecond, do they see Salvador Dali or not? And if not, why not? If someone’s facial structure is so wildly different from mine, how do I get there? And what compromises do we have to make to get me there, and how do we hide the fact that we’ve compromised?”
He continues. “Those are really fascinating questions to me, in terms of – and it’s not actor speak – it’s really about the image and what an image conveys. I worked with Randy Wilder, who did the makeup for all these photos. Randy and I would sit and go, okay, do I do this, and I’d take some wax and make a nose, something I could never do on a film. Creating the nose showed us the other things we had to highlight or cover…I find that process very interesting because I like drawing and painting. When I first look at the photo, and I’m in the makeup chair, and Randy and I each have a pencil or crayon (to draw on his face), I think, wow, this is not going to be so easy, but it’s a great problem to resolve.” As he talks, his eyes are bright. It is apparent he is fascinated by the process.
Malkovich shares that one of the most difficult images to recreate was Victor Skrebneski’s portrait of Bette Davis. “I’m not a very small woman, and I don’t have big eyes,” he laughs. “Bette Davis, who I once took a plane with centuries ago, was petite and her eyes enormous.”
And his favourite Homage portrait? Malkovich doesn’t hesitate. “Diane Arbus’ twin girls. It is just a wildly provocative and profound statement about twins, about little girls, about how they see themselves and how they’re seen, what they present to the world and their interest in the other.”
The Making of Then Came John
The idea for Malkovich: Then Came John originated with Sandro’s friend, and art collector, Duncan Meeder in the Netherlands who collaborated with Steven Hond of Komma (No Ordinary Publisher).
“These two wild dreamers have created something extraordinary, an Object De Arte rather than a commercial book, a collector’s item,” explains Sandro. Limited to 300 copies, the book features a selection of photographs from various Sandro/Malkovich projects. In a first, an LED screen has been integrated into the cover and fifty images of Malkovich’s eyes play on rotation. Signed by Sandro and Malkovich, the book comes with a specially designed steel book stand, a USB stick with four short films and a portrait of Malkovich taken specifically for this edition.
Then Came John also features remarkable behind-the-scenes images which convey the scope of the work and the intense research and meticulous planning that is necessary to recreate iconic portraits such as the masterpieces in Homage. In a world of Photoshop, and increasingly, AI, Sandro’s dedication to working in camera shows his extraordinary commitment to the art of traditional portrait photography. The painstaking recreation of every element in the original image down to the costumes and the lighting of the era, provide unique insights into the working mind of this innovative photographer. These photographs are possible because of Sandro’s lifelong passion for honing his craft. In this regard, Sandro and Malkovich are of the same ilk.
Nearly 30 years after they first met, the Sandro/Malkovich partnership has produced almost 250 photographs, as well as an award-winning short film. Malkovich shares that he is open to whatever inspired ideas Sandro comes up with next. “I love working with Sandro. Anything could happen if he has a new idea.”
As for Sandro, his passion for his muse is undiminished. The motivation is simple. “I go back to John because of his talent but also because he has a special place in my heart.”
Alison Stieven-Taylor
Malkovich: Then Came John
352 pages / 35.5 x 45 cm
Copies: 300
ISBN: 978-90-833673-6-1
Komma Publishing
