Martin Schoeller

Courtesy Martin Schoeller/Hasted Hunt Gallery

Martin Schoeller, "Piraha Grid" (2005)

Courtesy Martin Schoeller

Martin Schoeller

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They’re unforgiving in the sense that you are that close. But considering that they’re so close, the lighting is really nice and flattering and soft. You don’t see many wrinkles at all. Some people who have a crooked face look a little bit less flattering, but even a lot of people who aren’t really perceived as being that good-looking end up looking much better.

Yeah, but if you take somebody like Cate Blanchett, for example, you never see her looking as unretouched as she does in your headshot.

Well, they are unretouched, so if they have a wrinkle somewhere they keep their wrinkle.

Actually, that’s what I love about your work—you’re not going to see images like that of female celebrities anywhere else. It’s so nice to see what a woman really looks like, and she still looks really beautiful.

Exactly. They still look very good. I’m so tired of magazine photography, where the main goal is to make somebody look ten pounds lighter or ten years younger. People on magazine covers look like paintings. They don’t even look like people anymore. That’s why I like Richard Avedon to some extent. His pictures are a lot more honest and less flattering.

How do you get your subjects comfortable when you’re so close?

I talk nonstop. As soon as you’re quiet, people start thinking about what they want to do later on, or when is this going to be over, and they start to withdraw. On rare occasions that can be good too, because sometimes people look like their real selves.

Some people say the camera never lies. Do you think a photo can capture a person’s real emotional state or some truth about their personality?

I think all photographs lie. They capture such a small amount of a person’s personality, if they capture anything. A 60th of a second might give you at most an insight into a person’s personality—I’m just trying to go for that edge where you might learn a little bit about a person.

Have you ever come away from a shoot with nothing?

Yeah, when the subject is acting and I feel like nothing looks halfway honest. Actors especially are constantly posing or squinting or trying to look foxy, sexy, or whatever they want to portray. By the time my book came out in 2005 I’d done about 400 portraits in that style, but there are only about 70 in my book. At first I thought I’d do 120 or so. But then I couldn’t find enough pictures that I liked.

Do you like that you can see the light setups in their eyes?

It’s just part of the lighting technique. In the beginning it bugged me a little; I felt like it was too much reflection, but I think it brings the attention more to the eyes because they are so bright. The eyes and the mouth are the most important things in the face—it’s where you judge all the expression from. So with a shallow depth of field and the way I light the subjects I really draw all the attention to the essential parts of the face and everything else becomes secondary.

How do you prepare for each shoot?

I read up on the subject. If they’ve made any movies recently I watch their movies, or if they’re writers I try to read their books. Then I try to come up with ideas that are slightly conceptual but that make sense for the person. Then I go location scouting, and then I have to get the props. A lot goes into each shoot.

You’ve said that people who are not experienced at being photographed are easier subjects. Why is that?

Because they don’t think about what they want to look like. Most celebrities are constantly trying to look like something, somebody, convey some kind of expression. Athletes are easier: Often I feel like they’ve never looked in a mirror in their life. They’re less interested in photography and they’re less patient, but they are also less guarded. It’s not about looking beautiful; they couldn’t care less. It’s about how many points you score, how fast you run.

How do the celebrities you shoot react when they see the photos?

I never hear back from them.

I’d think it would be hard to look at this kind of photograph of yourself.