When I made this photo, it was with my usual 4x5 inch view camera. I always used a Polaroid to test the image for everything I wanted before I committed it to a black and white negative. Eric and I were in the habit of working out the image together when I posed him for a portrait (and you better believe I was intimidated by having such a powerful artist like him checking it out!) And the original Polaroid for this shot was a new type of sepia tone-colored emulsion that the art guys at Polaroid gave me to try out.
Well, Eric really dug it! I made extra Polaroids of the pose for
him (which may to this day still be floating about in his studio)
and he showed them around to pals that came over that evening. (I
left the party as it started so as to get back home to Mass.)
Eric said, in fact, that it suited him and that it described his
life
interests. He liked the idea of his original guitar being held
that way, and of the painter's apron (he was working on the
"Giants" in between poses for me). He liked the background and how
it contributed to the dynamics of the overall image.
In his loss, I'm very glad to send this image of him out into the
world. It was (most likely, as I figured when printing it) to
have been the gift I was to give him for what I anticipated as a
last visit, it seems like it is just that... it's my last gift to
him.
Marc Peloquin, Photographer
March 18, 2007
