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While enjoying the festivities of this year’s Art Basil Miami, I had the pleasure of sitting down for coffee with famed photographer Jocelyn Bain Hogg. This man is an incredible human with a perspective I wish many more could have and an All Access Pass to events allover the world. Having been everywhere and done everything, he is able to sit back, and look at the machine that makes celebrity—the fans, and the adoration that promotes the ordinary individual into an icon. Jocelyn is a complete Londoner, having been born and raised there; he still continues to use it as a Base of Operations today. After graduating from Newport University in Wales he started his career as a documentary photographer in the 1980’s and was able to go and meet people and places we could only dream of doing. What makes Jocelyn amazing is that he has met everyone in this world that I could have wanted to meet yet loves the Average Extraordinary—the local Butter Queen of Wales, the mine worker, average non-famous individuals. With his new book, Idols + Believers, he is able to get the All Access Pass and go to things like Cannes, award ceremonies, and parties and capture the fans and people waiting for the celebrities, while still having them in the picture. What is better than a picture of celebrity? A picture of a fan soo excited that they are almost on the verge of passing out. He captures that moment, a period of time never to be repeated. According to Jocelyn, we are all obsessed with fame and within the UK; they are throwing themselves at celebrities and Reality Stars, and those on the D List who are making a comeback with such shows as The Surreal Life. He admits that his people are beyond obsessed with them and adore our television shows with topics about celebrities. He likes to focus on the average people—for they are more genuine, real, and honest and there is nothing calculated, planned, or nit picked. Their joy as well as their pain is real. After listening to some interviews being conducted and being in photo shoots with celebrities, he has discovered the there are basic formulas, answers preplanned before questions asked, and things are not done if it hasn’t been thought out. That is why he likes focusing on fans vice the stars. He told me about this one time he was in a place and someone was interviewing Antonio Bandaris and the interviewer asked him something he did not like, snapped his finger and wife Melanie Griffith, who was in another part of the room, ran to his side, and left. Celebrity is power. What is also funny is the fact that even though our celebrities are well received over there, theirs in return are sadly not not received well here. He told me about this amazingly famous person in Britain named Jordan who is basically known for her breasts, yet, over here-who? I love pictures, but I love stories behind them. On page 111, there is a cool picture of Jude Law. What makes this an amazing picture is that Jocelyn went there to shoot fellow photographer, Richard Young, and, upon arriving Jude thought he was there for him and when he was told he was there for Richard, that is the face he made and history forever. On the back cover of the book is this jaw-dropping photo of Angelina Jolie in Cannes that is also a two-page spread on page 80 and 81 that is shot through the window her car. On page 73 there is a shot of Paris Hilton, but, from the camera angle, the focus is really on her Body Guard. Jocelyn also likes it when stars take their guard down and be human and there is a great picture of Orlando Bloom at a friends wedding lighting a cigar. SRL: If you could photograph any people in this world who would you love to shoot? JBH: I love other photographers like the legendary Cartier Bresson who has passed, Richard Avedon, Ian Holmes—all of which are legendary and sadly forgotten. I had the pleasure of meeting Richard Johnson and he wrote for this book. This is such a bizarre world and I wonder who will still be around. However, I would wish I could have had a moment of Winston Churchill’s time, glad to have shot [Frank] Sinatra, but would like to meet Mohamad Ali, Nelson Mandela, and George [W.] Bush.
When I asked him who some of his favorite celebrities are, he mentioned Richard Johnson. Richard is an all-time great British theatre actor who has done everything, and wrote page 145 in the book. He writes about the “5 Stages of an Actor’s Life” which are:
This is Jocelyn’s second book, the first being The Firm which dealt with the British organized crime and his next book will be Ibiza Rocks and focuses on the Rock and Roll scene of the famous Spanish island where the trend there is shifting from techno music to basic Rock and Roll. The other book in the works is Tired of Life which contain images of modern urban life in London. When asked about what type of cameras he uses, he went on to explain that he only has five digital cameras, the rest being simple film cameras, and used the digial ones at The Cannes Film Festival. He thinks that the quality is just not there and changes the dynamic of the shot. Saddened, he feels that traditional film cameras are going to be phased out and does not retouch his photos. With the occurrence of signed releases and privacy laws, he feels that spontaneity is being lost. Photography has seen a lot within its 170 years and the still photos are the ones we remember. Dennis Stock was this photographer that, for three days, followed James Dean around Times Square and shot him in the rain, and, some of the still shots we remember today. Celebrity doesn’t last.—Richard Johnson His book, Idols + Believers is available at Napapijiri at 1008 Lincoln Road in Miami. For more information and stock availability call them at 305*695-7301. Jocelyn Bain Hogg is represented and curated worldwide by Gramercy 32 Find Arts Gallery with the sponsorship of Kodak. For further information you can go to http://www.32finearts.com/painter.cfm?painter_id=113&int_period=3 .
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