On the 29th of September, I flew solo from Miami to the Bahamas to photograph FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried for The Australian Financial Review Magazine’s Young & Rich issue.
Going into the assignment, I knew I had ten minutes to work with Sam. I was hoping for a few tight, dynamic portraits and one environmental option in or around his office. When I arrived, I was given a tour of the main office and was told that I wouldn’t be able to photograph him there. We walked across the parking lot to an empty office space with two small bedrooms on one side, which allowed the company’s employees or visiting investors to sleep. On the other side of the empty space was the office of the company therapist, George Lerner. I set up my lights and asked George if he could sit in for me before Sam arrived on set. We spoke about the challenges of relocating with family to a small, remote island from his former life in San Francisco. I was also able to get a good sense of what Sam would be like to work with. If anyone knew the answer to that, it would be the company therapist.
Sam showed up in his typical wardrobe - an FTX t-shirt, shorts, high socks and sneakers. I worked with him for ten minutes while he was discussing future meetings and business on the side with his assistant standing next to me. He was kind, but seemed distracted, so I decided to forgo the environmental portrait.
On October 28th, our cover came out.
On Friday, November 11, FTX filed for bankruptcy.
