Justin Bieber lit a fire on the Internet when Interview magazine dropped its stunning photo shoot for the August issue cover story with the superstar, with added light grilling from Ms. Martha Stewart .
Shot by Steven Klein — who has worked with Madonna, Lady Gaga, Tom Ford, Brad Pitt, and almost every fashion brand of note — the renowned photographer opened up to ET about the epic shoot, and confirmed there was no re-touching of the images that have got everybody talking.
“Before I shoot someone, I do extensive research,” Klein told ET , explaining, “I was drawn to more of [Bieber’s] snapshots and paparazzi pictures, so my approach was to do more of a private shoot, which I call a private collection.”
The New York-based lensman revealed he used a ’70s Polaroid camera to get the real-life resolution seen in the racy Justin Bieber spread.
“There was no editing by art directors,” he recalled, also noting that the shoot was “simple, spontaneous, and really documenting him in the way he looked [on that day]. He came in looking pretty much like that, with that haircut, so there was no manipulation at all .”
On the photo shoot’s polaroid style, Klein said, “It was kind of trying to make this idea of an intimate look at Justin.”
He continued, “Instead of this fabricated pop icon’s idea of photographing a celebrity or a pop star.”
This meant not covering up marks on Bieber’s back from a recent “cupping session.”
The 50-year-old photographer said the “Where Are Ü Now” singer turned up on-set fresh from an acupuncture treatment for a neck injury.
“He just came from his acupuncturist, he had a neck injury.” Klein revealed.
Elaborating, he continued, “At one point, the makeup artist was going to take them down or remove them with makeup, and I just said, ‘Leave them, because I want to reveal the true imperfections and the reality of what he really looked like.’ ”
To hear Klein tell it, there was a lot of collaboration with Bieber on the day. He says Bieber “wanted to take a picture like he was a photographer, taking a picture of a girl,” for one pic. Klein added, “I like working with people that are creative and have an artistic integrity.”
Klein says his main aim was to “remove all the artifice of what people think about [Bieber],” but it was the Biebs’ who chose to pose in the buff.
“We had probably 20 racks of clothes,” the photographer reveals, “and he actually looked at an overview of the clothes and he didn’t even really want to shoot the fashion.”
Klein notes, “Everything was more like flesh and black and simple.”
Of the clown mask, knife, and red hair props that added an It horror movie element to the otherwise full-on, sexy shoot, Klein cops to being the one behind those ideas.
“I’ve used a lot of guns as props, so I thought I’d move on to knives,” Klein told ET , reportedly with a laugh.
Bieber and Klein’s wild Interview images are getting a lot of play around the Internet, and appears to have thrilled Justin Bieber’s fans, fashionistas, and media. With a past, alleged photoshopping furor in mind, Klein’s assurance that the photo shoot is 100 percent real — happy trail included — only adds to its artistic merit.
[Images via Steven Klein / Interview]