Whoopi Goldberg, Manhattan NY, 1996. Whoopi is one of the people I photographed the most in my career. We’ve been lifelong friends - I think of her as my other sister and I trust her completely. This was the first photo shoot we did together. I tend to do a lot of setups, a lot of different outfits, different lighting, and different locations, all within one session. That could mean having someone hanging out a window, leaning against a wall, running up to the roof, or then down to the street. Whatever variety I could accomplish in an alotted period of time.At that time, her dreads were so much a part of her personality, and the shot that came from this session was amazing. I took her up on the roof of this building after shooting downstairs in the studio. The simplicity of it was wonderful. At one point, she turned around and said, “”Just shoot me from behind.”” That’s something most actresses wouldn’t ask you to do. It was just her back and her dreads hanging down behind her, but it was quintessentially Whoopi. You could tell immediately that it was her, even from behind.As a portrait photographer, she really taught me something that day, as she’s taught me every moment we’ve shared since. It was about creativity and looking at things from a different perspective. It’s her favorite picture we’ve ever done. Since that day, and the many dozens of times I’ve photographed her, we now always do a picture from behind.
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