shashasha

The photobook “Philip Glass, 5th October 1995 New York City” tells the full story of Victor Boullet’s portrait session with Philip Glass, one of the most important living composers.

On a visit to New York in 1995, Boullet dared to approach Glass about taking his portrait. To Boullet’s surprise, Glass agreed and welcomed him into his townhouse. In addition to Boullet’s written account of how the meeting came about, “Philip Glass, 5th October 1995 New York City” features an unedited version of every single frame taken during that day, including those underexposed or out of focus, as well as Boullet’s contact sheets. The book, therefor, provides not only a number of portraits of Glass but also tells the story of an unusual encounter between a master artist and a young photographer—moving from Boullet’s first roll of film to the fifth and sixth, Glass seems to become more at ease as Boullet moves his lens closer and closer.

"Portraying someone connected to culture or fame can be a way of climbing a social ladder just by being associated with the sitter, I have used this to my advantage, but this was not the case that day I rang Philip Glass, I was a fan and bored. 
The playing stopped. Silence. Footsteps. There he was in front of me, Philip Glass. He looked at me with a startled expression, first at my face, then down at my shoes.
He then rapidly moved his eyeballs towards my yellow plastic suitcase containing my camera, he lifted his head and sort of looked behind me, and uttered: is that all?”
― from Victor Boullet’s text