The Eye Of A Clown

After all my years dedicated to Polaroid work, I finally got enough money saved to buy the best digital camera I could. And then I went out and got a 1:1 zoom macro lens that you mainly shoot jewelry with. But here, I used it to shoot the Metal Militia jumping over [turntablist] Sid [Wilson's] RV on the Mayhem tour and there’s clouds.

This was completely Photoshopped. I flew the sky in there. But basically, there’s clouds in the sky and he’s 15 feet in the air and the photo is taken right above the ramps, and it just doesn’t look like he’s gonna make it. The sky, the clouds, him, the bike, they’re all things that don’t belong together at this moment. I assure you, he may or may not have landed. But this is the beauty of what I’m doing. It’s about searching for and finding the heart of the subject.

Here’s this guy up there doing these incredible things that we don’t see because they happen so fast, and when he lands we go, “Wow. Yay.” But when you can stop it like this and contort it and see this difficult pose and the bike away and the clouds, it puts a knot in your stomach and you’re like, “Oh, my God.”

The trick is the demanufacturing of thinking and deprogramming. I’m using something you would use on bugs to shoot people that are 15 feet in the air. It’s like being in the studio and having people tell you, “You can’t use that mike on a snare. It’s rated for a guitar.” I just go, “Cool, put it on the snare. Let’s see what that potential is.” And in that one I feel llke I got it because you really feel the sense of danger.