In the Italian magazine L’Uomo Vogue, photographer Bruce Weber talks about how he first met Michael in the late 70s, what he means to him nowadays and what it meant to him photographing Michael for L’Uomo Vogue. Below follow some excerpts from that article which is entitled “M.J. In The Shadows Of Love”:

I first met Michael Jackson in the late 70s. Andy Warhol asked me to photograph a group of kids called the Jackson Five for Interview magazine. […]

When I started taking photographs, Michael and his brothers were having a pillow fight. […] Michael wan`t posing; he was only interested in reading the newspaper and looking for his reviews. […]

For years Michael and I have talked about taking photographs, but it never happened again until now, because our busy lives kept us at different ends of the globe. Luckily this time, we both found ourselves in New York City at the same time. I wanted to photograph Michael now instead of sending him a thank you note explaining all the joys I’ve had listening to him sing and watching him dance. […]

If I had to count how many times Michael’s music has given a life to my photographs, that number would be in the thousands. […]

So Michael, accept my gratitude for you have a big place in a lot of Poeple’s hearts. As they say on the street “Michael’s in the house and lets just do it!” - “Lets just get down and take some pictures and see if we land once again on the moon.

Bruce Weber is an American photographer and occasional filmmaker. He has also directed music videos for the Pet Shop Boys and Chris Isaac.

Source: MJFC-USA