Anthony Saint James
“My photo shoot with Busta Rhymes was a blast. I remember that I was a bit nervous, for a couple of reasons. As a photographer, I always want my sessions to go smoothly and for the artist to be open to suggestion and collaboration, so, not having met Busta before, I was hoping that, once again, I had created an atmosphere that would work for my subject.
Another reason why I was nervous was because the studio that I was going to photograph him in requested that there be no smoking…NO SMOKING!
When Busta arrived, both of our crews got along really well and everything went smoothly. At one point, I felt that, although the images looked great and we had what we needed, I was looking for a little bit more energy; I wanted to push it.
I got up on a ladder to get close and right in his face, to generate a little confrontation with Busta. I started yelling out, “GIMME MORE!”, “COME ON!”. And that's how this powerful and memorable image came to be. And some smoking was involved.”
Anthony Saint James is a portrait and still life photographer with iconic images of some of the most celebrated figures in music and entertainment from Joe Strummer to Anna Paquin. His work has appeared in both national and international publications, as well as on numerous album covers.