At the time, hip hop images were pretty stereotypical for the most part. A lot of it wasn’t beautiful. Boring…people being in jacuzzis. Imagery made for teenage boys. Not this one. The shot is the shot, and it’s iconic.
NOTORIOUS B.I.G.
I used to love Richard Avedon and Irving Penn and how disciplined their photos were. I really planned out this photo, and I had a definite vision for what I wanted. I had already photographed Big one time before in a white suit for Rolling Stone Magazine. I generally didn’t shoot a lot of rappers because the aesthetic wasn’t my thing. For this shoot, I told Big’s team that I wasn’t interested in photographing if he was just gonna wear sweatpants. And I liked the symbolism of the crown. So, when I told them the overall idea, Big was up for it. When you asked him to do a picture, he never complained.
Every time I thought of Biggie, I always thought of him as a big, fat West African King (laughs). Puffy wasn’t so into it, he kept saying that he worried Big looked like “the Burger King.” So Big was trying to reassure Puffy and it turned out fine. From the contact sheet, I chose the one photo I thought was most poignant. The images are all pretty similar. I usually don’t give photo editors a lot of choices.
At the time, hip hop images were pretty stereotypical for the most part. A lot of it wasn’t beautiful. Boring…people being in jacuzzis. Imagery made for teenage boys. Not this one. The shot is the shot, and it’s iconic.I still have the crown, too.
I used a Mamiya RB67 on Fuji film, and I cross processed the film (Cross-processing, also known as ‘x-pro’, is the procedure of deliberately processing one type of film in a chemical solution intended for another type of film.)
Someone called to tell me that the image was being carried throughout Biggie’s funeral procession in Brooklyn. The photo was posted all along the route. That was important to me. This photo is about hip hop, but it’s also beyond that. It’s people perceiving you as the best. When people die young, they are mythologized.
ABOUT BARRON CLAIBORNE
Description
[BIGGIE’S CROWN]. THE FAMOUS CROWN WORN BY THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. FOR THE ICONIC “K.O.N.Y” [KING OF NEW YORK] PORTRAIT SESSION, SHOT BY PHOTOGRAPHER BARRON CLAIBORNE ON MARCH 6, 1997, IN HIS NEW YORK STUDIO.
Plastic crown, adorned with multi-colored plastic gemstones; SIGNED BY BIGGIE SMALLS, AND SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY CLAIBORNE “Crown from Biggie KONY Shot. 3-6-97.” Remnants of interior foam cushioning, one point broken off, some general light wear and abrasions.
Offered Together With
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