Sandro Miller: Repeating History
William Klein, Smoke and Veil, Paris VOUGE (1958), 2014 © Sandro Miller
By Summer Myatt
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then surely extensively researched, painstakingly exact, perfectionistic facsimile is homage worthy only of the greatest artistic masters and can be completed only by an individual with the caliber and dedication to match. In 2011, when Sandro Miller was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, he set out to honor his photographic idols and major career influencers – artists like Diane Arbus, Irving Penn, and Annie Leibovitz – with a tribute replicating 61 of their iconic photographs. With veteran actor, producer, and director, John Malkovich as his solitary muse and subject, Miller and his team of highly skilled makeup artists, set and costume designers, and researchers embarked on a nearly seven year journey to produce the tome of incredible photographic excellence that is Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to Photographic Masters.
David Bailey, Mick Jagger, Fur Hood (1964), 2014 © Sandro Miller
Diane Arbus, A Young Man in Curlers at Home on West 20th Street, New York City (1966), 2014 © Sandro Miller
The book opens with a stunning, near perfect recreation of Irving Penn’s 1957 portrait of Pablo Picasso in Cannes, France; an almost unrecognizable Malkovich leers mystifyingly into Miller’s lens from behind an ornately embroidered coat collar, at once vulnerable and shrouded in ambiguity. The image stands alone as an impeccable photo, but the work becomes even more impactful when one considers the sheer effort, time, and labor that went into its creation.
For Miller, the execution of this concept was a multifaceted personal and professional exploration of art, a test of his own limits, and a love letter to the figures who helped to shape and inform his work. “It’s truly about going back and trying to get into the heads of these photographers and dissecting what they were doing at that moment, what was going on, the emotion that they were trying to draw out of their subject, where the light was coming from, and why they chose the camera that they chose to shoot with...even trying to think of what the atmosphere was like,” Miller reveals of his inspiration and process.
Richard Avedon, John Ford, Director, Bel Air California (April 11, 1972), 2017 © Sandro Miller
John Malkovich may seem like an unusual choice of subject for tackling such an important, richly varied, complex project, but his superb ability to not only replicate but also wholly embody iconic historical figures is abundantly evident in this close collaboration with Miller. With an unwavering, wholehearted dedication to character, Malkovich can so convincingly become Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger, and seemingly any other persona with which he’s tasked. But despite voluntarily surrendering his own identity in pursuit of artistic integrity, Malkovich somehow always manages to be unmistakably himself in every photo, bringing subtle but persistent hints of his immutable personality to the personae he portrays and enriching these classic works with new meaning.
Arnold Newman, Igor Stravinsky, New York (1960), 2014 © Sandro Miller
Acutely aware of the potential reception of this particular subject matter, Miller took extra care in the creation process to avoid the project being mistaken for parody. Relying on Malkovich’s acting chops and the keen expertise of his team, Miller turned possibly comedic images – like Malkovich sexily posed as Marilyn Monroe – into moments of true artistic mastery, both theatrically and photographically. Malkovich and Miller have a long artistic history together – a rich partnership of talent, trust, and dependability; this book is arguably the result of two perfectionists collaborating on what could’ve easily been an impossible undertaking for any other two people. Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich is undoubtedly a collection of photos so compelling, impressive, and convincing it requires much more than just a second glance.
