Dennis Hopper 1936 – 2010

I was very fortunate in having a chance to meet and photograph Dennis Hopper once, in 1991. He was a prince! The photo desk had forgotten to give the assignment out the night before, so they called me in a panic and told me to rush to Manhattan. The photo assignment was for 10AM and I didn't arrive until after 11:30. I called his room, where he was doing interviews, and he said to come on up. He was in the middle of an interview - he told me to set up my lights, and when the interview was over, he would give me time to photograph. This is astounding, for Hollywood stars. He had starred in a film called "Paris Trout" about a southern bigot. I wanted to do something a bit menacing, so I set my light up so it shown through a plant in the room, casting shadows on the wall. When he came over, I asked if it would be OK to light him like this, and he laughed, and said it would be fine. I had forgotten that in addition to being an actor, and a director, he had published a couple of books of his still photographs. He could not have been nicer, and I have always remembered his kindness. Here is one of the photographs I did that morning.