Image Conscious
Forbes has been known for decades for its punchy, opinionated writing style. Since I returned here eight years ago, we’ve worked hard to create a similar profile when it comes to photography.
No one has shot more covers for us—more than 30 over the past five years—than Jamel Toppin, who has pulled off everything from Katy Perry in her Rome hotel suite to Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Nothing in his 22-year career, however, fully prepared him for this issue’s enigmatic cover subject, Kanye West. “I had a feeling it would be challenging,” says Toppin, who has seen West walk off a set on three other shoots. “And it was.”
It started with a secret location (Toppin and his team circled Los Angeles randomly for hours, waiting for West’s home address). It continued with wardrobe. (West wore a hoodie, a garment that carries potent cultural symbolism in today’s America, but didn’t explain why. “I thought he was joking,” says Toppin.) And it stretched on past midnight.
So how does a master photographer deal with a master provocateur? “Being adaptable and flexible allows me to get the most out of people and situations,” he says. In this case, he came in with a game plan and a Kanye-like fixation on composition and lighting. “I really try to portray subjects in the truest possible manner.” Good rapport doesn’t hurt. In this case, West agreed to come back a second day for another shoot. He showed up wearing the exact same hoodie. Not the typical stuff of business magazines, and Toppin did what great photographers do—he delivered a timeless image.