Bowie and Lady Gaga: celebrity photographer Markus Klinko is exhibiting in Hong Kong
It took about four months to get him here, but at least celebrity photographer Markus Klinko is in Hong Kong for all the right reasons
Lady Gaga, The Mask by Markus Klinko
The Swiss-born award-winning photographer’s charity exhibition, “2000s: Bowie and Beyond”, which is running at Alisan Fine Arts gallery in Central and the Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s MO Bar until March 16, features some of the decade’s most iconic images in aid of the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital Foundation (HKAHF).
Klinko’s show features photos of Bowie and other celebrities he has worked with.
Klinko created Beyoncé’s first album cover and Lady Gaga’s mask photo, both of which are available at the exhibition.
During the VIP exhibition preview at the gallery, proceedings got off to a good start when a large print sold for US$50,000.
With stars on the walls and a good cause, Kevin Cheng and Michael Wong were among the Hong Kong stars in attendance.
Lucy Liu by Markus&Kaola
Koala, the Chinese-American business partner, photographer and DJ and Klinko’s personal muse – has been ever-present at his side for the past three years. “Markus Klinko is past work,” Koala says. “All the new photo assignments are now Markus&Koala. That is why the Russell Wong picture today is Markus&Koala. Lucy Liu [which they shot just recently] is Markus&Koala.”
They have plans for further collaborations in Asia. “We decided to start building around the [Bowie and Beyond] exhibition. A component of new photo shoots involving celebrities. We have shooting plans next week with Michael Wong and Valerie Chow.”
“Everyone who is into the arts, the galleries and collecting, knows that the China and Hong Kong markets are the number one art markets in the world, you know, most expensive sales and so on,” he says. “Unfortunately, photography has not been fully developed as an art market yet. I like to take credit and like to give Jo credit. With this show we are setting some records.”
The ‘Jo’ he refers to is Jo Soo-Tang, the HKAHF’s chairman and the force behind the exhibition. Jo has been a fixture for decades at many of the city’s biggest charity initiatives.
Klinko met Jo through Corina Larpin, the philanthropist, owner and creative director of jewellery brand Stēfēre last year, and became close friends with Larpin and her husband over the summer.
David Bowie by Markus Klinko
One night, the Larpin couple spoke about moving to Hong Kong, which piqued Klinko’s interest. “I said I would love to bring the shows to Hong Kong and China, they said let us see what we can do,” Klinko recalls. “You know people always say that and you know you never hear from them any more — [it’s just] small talk.
“Not Corina, she kept in touch. Then all of a sudden she sent me an email saying, ‘I think you will have your exhibition in the early spring’. She introduced me to Jo. And in 24 hours, Jo had organised everything. That was back in November, and ever since, Jo and I have been talking every day.”
Klinko admired HKAHF’s mission and hankered to be involved with the foundation. He has history with charity work, having shot the famous Aids campaign with Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and other celebrities in coffins. “The campaign raised US$1 million in three days, and I have collaborated a lot with Aids charities in the past.”
He wants to shoot more charity campaigns with Asian celebrities. “There are some Asian celebrities I want to photograph. Angelababy is very high on my list. I love Gong Li. But also a lot of the new K-pop stars, like BlackPink.”
Beyoncé’s album 'Dangerously in Love' by Markus Klinko
“It’s very easy to say that’s nice [to do charity work] but when you think about it, with the power that I can bring to the table with this work of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Britney Spears, and all these other celebrities … we can make a difference. Not only with this exhibition here. This is a model, an example, for Asia what we can do. We can make it into an annual event where new celebrities can be photographed. That’s why I mentioned Angela Baby, I hope she reads this. Angela Baby, come and join us.”
The charity initiative has achieved support from corporate sponsors Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Corina’s Stēfēre brand and Fujifilm.
“I am a collaborator of Fujifilm. I personally have been working with them since 2000, that is a 20-year relationship”. The veteran photographer is now using the Fujifilm GFX — a medium format camera. “Several pictures in this exhibition, such as the one of Freida Pinto, were photographed with the GFX,” he says.
Klinko says that equipment isn’t everything. At the end of the day, he says everything hinges on the photographer’s skills. “Let’s say you are a professional mountain climber, climbing Mount Everest. You can tell anyone what kind of shoes you are wearing and what kind of energy bar you are packing, what kind of ice pick you use, then tell them to go and do it. It’s not going to work.”
Klinko wants to collaborate more with brands and serious business investors. Chinese investors, he says, have been at the forefront of buying up Hollywood. He jokes that Hollywood is owned by China at the moment, then says in a more serious tone, “I would like to have a Chinese partner for this project.”
‘David Bowie, Light The Way’ by Markus Klinko
Klinko, who is celebrating his 25th anniversary as a photographer, remarks that he can see himself as an artist with the photos of Bowie. “It’s my first meaningful collaboration with galleries around the world. You know when you think of art photography or art in general, most art you see in a museum or gallery is created for the purpose of art.”
“My photos are magazine and album commissions, advertising campaigns, and they are becoming gallery objects in their second life, and that is also quite different for somebody to say ‘I am in fine arts’.”
Asked who his favourite celebrities are, he says, “Some of my favourite celebrities are in this room. Bowie is definitely a favourite, Lady Gaga is a favourite, usually the last person I shoot is a favourite. Koala and I shot several album covers of Carly Rae Jepsen in Los Angeles. She is a very cute new star that Justin Bieber discovered.”
And the most challenging ones to work with? “There were some challenging people but not the ones you would expect. I had a great experience shooting Mariah Carey. She was wonderful. Some people say she is a big diva and difficult, but I had a great experience. Sometimes, a male comedian can be challenging as they may not like to be photographed. I can’t mention names, but some of the actors are not as comfortable in front of the still camera – they are more about cracking the jokes [in moving pictures rather than frozen moments]. It’s not that they are difficult, it’s that they themselves don’t enjoy it being photographed so much. And that makes it more difficult.”
‘David Bowie, The Session’ by Markus Klinko
“I’m in many galleries around the world. There are these ‘rock ‘n roll’ galleries in Paris, London, Sydney, LA … they specialise in this kind of rock ‘n roll photography such as David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan … all these figures from the 1970s and 80s. But somehow I am an outsider.”
“I work with a lot of these galleries because I’m at the height of my producing career. I am a photographer who is still working,” he says. “But most of the people that are in these galleries are either dead or retired because they are from a generation before me. So I’m kind of from the younger generation of people who had a chance to work with David Bowie. This,” Klinko gestures to the huge prints on the wall of MO Bar, “was the last big photo shoot of Bowie”.
Big in terms of being a successful photo shoot of the later part of the singer’s life, “The last iconic super-shoot,” Klinko calls it. “He had in the 70s and 80s some amazing photo shoots. At the end of his life, in the last 15 years, he didn’t do many photo shoots. He was very shy.”
“You know something really funny,” Klinko says. “I remember we [Bowie and I] were standing by the elevator and he called me into his studio and we were chatting, he said ‘don’t charge me too much for this photo shoot’. I responded, I don’t care [about the money]. He replied, one day it’ll pay off for you. I am now saying that to Jo, it’s going to pay off.”
Markus Klinko will host a behind-the-scenes event of his photo shoot with Valerie Chow and Michael Wong on Thursday March 14, giving those attending an intimate view of the photographer in action.
‘2000s: Bowie and Beyond’ exhibition ends on March 16
Original article published on South China Morning Post (Mar 8, 2019)
