Portrait of Julian Schnabel, painter and film director, born in New York on October 26th 1951, sitting on a Vanity Fair of Poltrona Frau (?).  Always wanted to ask Julian Schnabel to pose for a portrait, however, I was sure he would have never accepted, actually I wouldn’t even know how to contact him, and maybe, once found, he would have agreed, for a portrait only though, and me not being a great photographer, perhaps it wouldn’t have been worth it, or maybe, contact him only to meet him would have been worth it, to shake his hand, to ask some questions, if I met him I would ask him about the 80’s in New York, when he looked like Gary Oldman and one could bump into Andy Warhol who at the time looked like David Bowie, also I would ask him what Jean-Michel Basquiat really was like, if he really bounced when he walked, or if watching the film is sufficient to get the idea.  Anyway it has been a while I wanted to portray Schnabel.  I happened to go to a cafe for a coffee and bought a magazine, I can’t remember now what magazine it was, I began to read it and as I began I managed to finish it too, strange, as I usually never manage to finish a magazine, I must have been in that cafe for a good couple of hours, it was a Thursday and I didn’t have much to do that day, once I finished reading I looked at the back cover and guess who I found? The very man himself, I almost got emotional, and I really wanted to ask him all those questions, but I knew that, a bit because my English wasn’t that great at the time and a bit because it was only a picture, he wouldn’t reply, or I wouldn’t get the answer, so, not to make mistakes I asked: “Mr. Schnabel… or if you prefer I can call you Julian, I would like to make a portrait of you…” as I’d guessed, he didn’t say a word, so without thinking twice I headed home, took my new friend and got him lying down on a red cloth, after several attempts, for which, I thought, I had abused his patience, but reassured by his silence, I managed to take the picture on a red background, actually I shortlisted two of them, this is the first one while the other one is a close up, 2007, inkjet print on photo paper, 18×13,5cm  

Portrait of an unknown blond girl, or, I’d rather say, a girl whose name I don’t know and who I’ve never had the pleasure to talk to, even more, who I’ve never seen before.  I found this girl in the same magazine where I found Julian Schnabel, as a matter of fact after taking the picture of the painter-film director, I flicked through the magazine again and saw this girl, and given that I already had the red cloth and the camera handy, without her seeing me, I took her picture, and if you notice, it seems she’s looking towards Schnabel, and the strange thing is that I felt there was something between them, I wasn’t sure though, but now you can tell she’s looking at him, and she’s waiting to be alone to get close to him and maybe kiss him, he seems not to care much, but I believe it’s just the same old technique of the male pretending not to care, and she’s obviously fallen for it, and it’s clear that she’s also playing the same game a bit, but he’s better at it, and I bet it’ll be her to make the first move, now I wouldn’t want to gossip, but if one could take a picture when they kiss I think a tabloid would pay it well, of course he’s not as famous as Martin Scorsese.  Anyhow, keep an eye, you never know, 2007, inkjet print on photo paper, 18×13,5cm  

The other picture of Julian Schnabel, painter and film director, born in New York on October 26th 1951, sitting on a Vanity Fair of Poltrona Frau, taken from a closer point, still on red background, even though I must say, now that I take a better look, I prefer this one, the other one seemed a bit out of focus, 2007, inkjet print on photo paper, 18×13,5cm