“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts.”
William Shakespeare
Years ago I photographed Don King for the cover of a UK magazine. We waited approximately 47 business years for him to appear. When he finally entered the room, it felt less like a photoshoot and more like the arrival of a Roman emperor who had just discovered hairspray.
His office was absolute chaos in the best possible way. Gold everywhere. Giant framed portraits of himself. Random frog statues staring into my soul from every corner. It looked like Liberace decorated a casino inside a fever dream.
And then there was this framed piece: Don King above George Bush and Bill Clinton like some kind of holy trinity of American power. For people who don’t immediately see it — it’s basically a shrine to influence. Politics, celebrity, money, media, spectacle… all orbiting each other in one glossy gold frame. Republican. Democrat. Boxing kingpin. Different costumes, same theater.
That’s the thing about photographing powerful people — eventually you realize most of it is performance. Expensive performance, yes. But performance nonetheless.
Meanwhile I’m now at the stage in life where my dream is basically:
little house in the forest,
coffee,
birds,
good books,
and absolutely no television telling me civilization is ending every seven minutes.
Honestly the frogs may have been the wisest ones in the building.