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"Bad" Album Release

Greg Gorman, photographer of unused “Bad” album cover, “CultureMap Houston” (May 16, 2011) (archived)

Michael was a perfectionist beyond your wildest imagination. Every time we would shoot, he would call me and we'd have a two-hour conversation to discuss what it was we were going to do and how we were going to go about it. He had pet tarantulas; they actually shed their skin. This is the casing of the tarantula that he brought with him.

He never traveled with a big entourage. He was very genuine and really loved photography. I dearly miss him. He was a tragic individual but an amazing human being."

“Vistek ProPhoto Blog” (October 30, 2013) (archived)

Always a great subject! Michael would call and we would discuss our shoots just as though it was an art director calling to discuss what it was we were going to be doing. It made for very organized sessions with everything in order and so to speak accounted for prior to the actual shoot. He was thorough and meticulous! Case in fact, when we shot the images with the Tarantula on his head, he told me when we spoke that his pet tarantulas had just shed their skin and that the skins looked exactly like the spiders themselves. It was my idea to gaffers tape it to his head! Very little challenges with Michael because we both knew what we were going to be doing when he got to my home. Gear would have been a Hasselblad 553 I suppose with a 180 lens, I am guessing!

“Interview” magazine (February 10, 2019) (archived)

Michael Jackson was one of my all time favorites. We worked together on many occasions and got some tremendous imagery, all thanks to his creative genius. When we would shoot together, Michael would give me a call about two weeks out to discuss the shoot and what he hoped to achieve. For one example, Michael told me that he had pet tarantulas and that they had just shed their skin. And their molten skin looked exactly like the spiders themselves. He brought along a couple of them and I decided to gaffers tape the spider to his forehead. Thus came about that photo.