I
think many of you have seen this photo of Brian Molko. Do you know
the story behind it?
The
picture was taken by Australian
photographer Robin Sellick in his house in North
Adelaide in 1998.
The
photoshoot was commissioned by Australian
Rolling Stone. But somehow the guys from the magazine forgot to tell
Robin that Placebo were coming to his house on the particular day! So
when the band arrived, he was in the middle of some other work, and
nothing was prepared... Anyway, thanks to the creativity of everyone
involved in the process the whole photoshoot turned out great!
Robin
Sellick shared his memories about that day on his IG account: “I
really enjoyed this shoot. @rollingstone forgot to tell me they’d
arranged for Placebo to come to my house at 2 o'clock. Three guys
appeared in the hallway and said we’re here for the photo shoot.”
You
can also read an INTERVIEW
down
below where
Robin tells a lot of other interesting details about his work with
Placebo.
Robin
Sellick: The
shoot was commissioned by Rolling Stone magazine who arranged for the
band to come to my house at 2 o'clock on this particular day.
However, they somehow forgot to tell me about it so when the band
arrived, I was in the middle of some other work. I heard a noise in
the hallway and walked out to find these 3 guys standing there. One
of them said "We're here for the photo shoot." So we just
worked it all out from there...
AL: What can you say about the whole process of the photo shoot? I've read in your comment that it was in your house. How much time did it take? How many people were involved in the photo shoot?
RS: I think the band were there for 90 minutes or 2 hours - something like that. One of my roommates was a very good stylist. He was asleep at the time so after we woke him up and explained what was happening we were able to ask him to organize some things. My assistant was already there working with me on that day and there was someone from the record company too so we had enough people to quickly pull it all together.
AL: Did you work with a stylist for the session? Who did make up Brian's style and prepare clothes/other necessary things?
RS: I think Brian did his own make-up. He brought the hospital gown with him and asked if we could use it for one of the shots. Stefan had a cast on his arm, which he'd broken recently, falling off a stage somewhere, so there seemed to be a theme emerging…
Someone (I think the guy from the record company) drove down to a nearby hospital and got the wheelchair and crutches and someone else gathered up some empty bottles that were in the bin, or laying around the kitchen from the night before, and put them on the coffee table in the living room for that set up - Steve and Stefan may have helped with that…
AL: What can you say about the whole process of the photo shoot? I've read in your comment that it was in your house. How much time did it take? How many people were involved in the photo shoot?
RS: I think the band were there for 90 minutes or 2 hours - something like that. One of my roommates was a very good stylist. He was asleep at the time so after we woke him up and explained what was happening we were able to ask him to organize some things. My assistant was already there working with me on that day and there was someone from the record company too so we had enough people to quickly pull it all together.
AL: Did you work with a stylist for the session? Who did make up Brian's style and prepare clothes/other necessary things?
RS: I think Brian did his own make-up. He brought the hospital gown with him and asked if we could use it for one of the shots. Stefan had a cast on his arm, which he'd broken recently, falling off a stage somewhere, so there seemed to be a theme emerging…
Someone (I think the guy from the record company) drove down to a nearby hospital and got the wheelchair and crutches and someone else gathered up some empty bottles that were in the bin, or laying around the kitchen from the night before, and put them on the coffee table in the living room for that set up - Steve and Stefan may have helped with that…
AL: Was it planned as a photo shoot only with Brian or other members of the band could take part in it?
RS: The brief was to shoot the whole band for a feature story. We did the first set up in the bathroom, which worked best with Brian by himself so I did the next shot in the hallway with Stefan and Steve in the wheelchair, so the magazine could run the two pictures together on facing pages. The set up with all 3 together on the couch was the last shot.
AL: What do you remember about Brian during your mutual work? What can you say about your impressions from work with him?
RS: Brian had all the skills required to make collaborating with him a very smooth process. As soon as he showed me the hospital gown, I showed him the bathroom and we quickly exchanged ideas for the shot and how to go about it. He's a great collaborator, as he's demonstrated over the last twenty years.
AL: What was the most interesting for you as a photographer in this session?
RS: Because it was an unplanned shoot and everything had to be arranged spontaneously, everyone helped with whatever needed to be done, including Brian, Stefan and Steve. They dived into the process and worked hard, along with everyone else, to produce the best possible result. For a band as big as they were at the time, and still are, it says a lot about them as people, and as artists.
AL: What kind of photo shoot would you do with Placebo if you got an opportunity to work with the band at the present time?
RS: It's an interesting idea to photograph subjects again after such a long time - particularly when they're people who have also spent the last twenty years changing and growing and evolving. So much would be different so I would need to rely on what we might still have in common - some sort of truth. More than meets the eye, you could say.
(Interview for Placebo Story Project, 2019)
Photos by Robin
Sellick
Styled
by Pete Woodward
Post by Olga
Post by Olga
