This collection of photographs was never intended to be a book or a series per se. In
February of 2009, I flew to California on a magazine assignment to photograph
the iconic white glove of pop star Michael Jackson. Even though I am a lifelong
portrait photographer, I have always had the urge to investigate people through
the simplicity of the artifacts that make up their lives.
I went to L.A. with one vision in mind and little more than a day to capture
it.
Michael Jacksonʼs primary home at Neverland had been vacant for several years
and his belongings lay packed and stored in crates, awaiting public auction.
When I arrived at the venue for the shoot, I had no idea what Iʼd find.
What I discovered in those crates evoked in me a deep sadness. From the
man who would be king, his artifacts were of the simplest design. A sequined
tube sock. A childʼs trinket. The famous glove – so revealing in its dime store
simplicity, so mundane in its plainness. I completed the initial assignment in two
days, yet found myself unable to leave. My assistants and I remained on location
for another twenty-four hours, poring over more than a thousand items from
which we had to choose our images. I returned to New York after three days,
with a premonition that the task wasnʼt finished.
It seems that an individualʼs belongings rarely become available without
some tragedy as a backdrop. Despite my exhaustive efforts to create a window
into Jacksonʼs private world, the portrait was not complete. I knew there were
other objects that had not been made available to be photographed.
In April of 2009, I flew back to California. Through perseverance and good
fortune, we were granted one last access. This time, when I returned to New
York, I had the pieces I needed to complete the story. Shortly thereafter, our
investigation became a documentation of a life cut short.
It is said that the Pharaohs built tombs to reveal their lives to future
generations. Michael Jackson sacrificed his childhood to the calling of his
musical gift. Neverland was the pyramid he constructed to a lost childhood. The
artifacts captured in this series return us to the Neverland he lost.