Basquiat - A Portrait

• Photographer
  Richard Corman
• Agency / Studio
  Publisher: Njg Studio

In 1984, I was asked to photograph Jean-Michel Basquiat for L’Uomo Vogue. When I walked into the artist’s loft I was engulfed by a wave of creative confusion. The room was a swirl of people, paint, canvas, color and smoke. Off in the corner was Basquiat submerged and almost invisible. My initial instinct was to remove him from all the distractions and place him in front of a thin four foot wall of grey seamless paper. I wanted to see behind his eyes and allow him to tell the most elemental part of his story – the human spirit behind the art. My book is a testament to that encounter.