TGP: What are you looking forward to in 2006?

Avenaim: Ive been working on three books and Im expecting them to come out next year.  The first to appear will be LUMINOSITY: The Fine Art of Photographing Celebrities.  Its a ten-year retrospective on my infamous to notorious iconic images.  What separates this book from others is that in addition to the photographs, there are the lighting illustrations, the descriptions of the mechanics, the detailed explanation of how everything was done, and the story behind every shoot.  The book will be filled with tips and tricks for everyone to use.  Were looking at anywhere from 50 to 100 pictures. 
The next book will be Naked Truth.  Its a celebration of natures forms, comprised of landscapes, still lives and fine art nudes in black and white.  It has been 10 years in the making.  Ive worked on that project all over the country and dont have a schedule for publication.

Im also working on one other book project.  All I want to say is that it was inspired by Richard Avedon, and that its a book about the human condition. Like films, Ill release one book and have two in the can.  You have to build a following first.  LUMINOSITY has to come out first because theyll say, Oh, thats the guy who photographed Halle Berry.  So when Naked Truth comes out, theyll say Oh, hes the one who did LUMINOSITY.

TGP: How did you get the idea of pouring milk on Angela Bassett?

It wasnt planned but during the shoot I said, Would you be opposed to us pouring milk all over you?  And by the way, Anglea Bassett is not going to let just anyone pour milk all over her.  Trust is paramount.  Even with her publicist there, I got an okay because of my reputation.  Celebrities know I would never do anything to make them look silly.  If that shot didnt work, it would never have seen light of day.  So knowing that, Angela gave me the okay.  I said, Angela, when the milk starts pouring down, I want you to scream.  Its going to be splattering everywhere.

Angela Bassett 2005 Jerry Avenaim

I had one roll, ten frames.  My assistant was pouring; she was screaming.  I was down to my last couple of frames, and there was no more milk.  It was silly to have her screaming with no more milk splattering everywhere.  So as the milk lay on face and was slowly dripping off, I just saw this beauty and peace.  I said, Angie, just close your eyes and bring your hands to your face. That was my last frame.

TGP: Youve photographed fashion, celebrities, athletes and unknowns.  Can you talk about how your approach differs according to the subject?

Avenaim: Fashion photography is about fantasy, about romance, about sex.  You can see that in the Guess Jeans campaign, the Phat Farm campaign, and numerous fashion editorials that Ive done.  In a fashion shoot, the connection with the subject can be very intimate.  Theres an intensity.  It builds to a crescendo.  You want to create that energy with the subject so you can convey that message in the pictures.

Celebrity is very different although psychology is still involved.  Im not photographing clothes or fashion when I shoot celebrities.  Im photographing the subject-- the celebrities.  Im not always trying to bring out a flirtation. Im trying to bring out an emotion, and I often do that verbally, saying something for a reaction.   Youre not selling sex with celebrities, youre selling celebrity.

Tom Green 2005 Jerry Avenaim

With athletes, my emphasis is on honesty, intensity.  I did a 72-page childrens book with Shaquille ONeal entitled Shaq and the Beanstalk.  Afterwards, I wanted to do a picture just for us, to look great on the wall.  So I got him to look me straight in the eye while I talked trash to him, egged him on.  With the athletes of the NFL, which I shot for 75th anniversary of GQ, I wanted to bring out the intensity in those faces with pure and honest images. I told them to look at me like I was the offensive line.  I photographed Brett Farve when he hadnt played a game in the NFL.  He looked like a kid, thinking, Yeah, Im gonna have fun and play me some football! Thats what came through.  Maybe he didnt know what he was getting himself into.  Now you see pictures and hes seasoned.  He has a different look in his eye.  He looks like a guy whos been hit.

With unknowns, Im simply authentic.  I am myself, speaking my truth, my authenticity.  No tricks, just the purity and honesty of my subject.  Naked Truth (Avenaims forthcoming book of female nudes) is still about intimacy, but also about safety.  The subjects are not actors, models, or celebrities.  I cant be too flirtatious because theyre very vulnerable, exposed. But I still want to create that little bit of chemistry, that little bit of attraction so I can tap into the soulfulness of my subject. 

Matt Hummel (Avenaims assistant) adds this comment about working on Naked Truth:  Out of the blue, Jerry got a call from a girl he had photographed years before for Naked Truth. She wanted to pose again and came to the studio with one of her best friends.  The subject was a really deep, sensitive, emotional girl, and Jerry wanted to portray that.  During the shoot, he told the subject to look straight at her friend.  Do you love her? he asked.  She said yeah and started getting a little emotional, a little misty, and looked away from the camera.  And Jerry, in a stern but not domineering way, said, Dont look away.  He encouraged the exchange, the emotion, drew it out.  Tears started running down the subjects face.  Not out of sadness but because shes having this moment with her friend.  By setting that tone, he got the shot, and it was beautiful and amazing. 

TGP: What were your parents like?

Avenaim: Supportive.  And now proud.  My parents were exiled from Egypt to Paris during the Suez Canal crisis (in the 50s).  They Egypt left with nothing but the shirts on their backs, and lived in Paris for half a dozen years.  But they wanted me to be born a U.S. citizen, so they came by boat, along with other friends and the entire family.  I asked my dad how did you survive?  He said we had friends and family, and were all in the same boat.  He had three jobs to support us and get us out of the not-so-great neighborhood we lived in.  We started out very poor.  My father taught me a lot about hard work and ethics.  Working three sales jobs in electronics, he moved us out to the suburbs so I could go to good school and meet pretty girls by taking pictures.  He started selling paper and ink supplies out of basement of our house and built a corporation that grew into one of the biggest in Chicago.  He wanted me to take over the family business, which was photo-copiers.  My mom was the secretary and treasurer.  Now theyre happy, healthy and retired in Florida.  They live the American dream, and now, because of them, I do as well.