I Like Ike

As humans, we instinctively slot folks into heroes and villains, yet we also have deep connections with stories about bad people who do good things, and vice versa.

I recently heard someone speaking about William Shakespeare’s works and why they still resonate, and their main point was that he wrote characters who were neither all good nor all bad.

For most people, Ike was the guy who beat his wife, Tina Turner. I assume that this is true, and make no excuses for his behavior, but certainly the timing of their story was bad luck for him, and he became the poster child for domestic abuse.

But he’s also a great musician, with links to some of the earliest rock ‘n’ roll records, and being the leader of one of the best musical outfits in pop culture history, the Ike & Tina Turner Band.

I met with Turner at the home of one of the label owners for his new record. We started by shooting by a small creek behind the house. I took him over there and described the shot that I wanted to do, while taking off my shoes and socks, and stepping into the stream. He looked at me and said, "You are one weird guy. I will never forget you for the rest of my life."

I could not convince him to come into the water for a picture, but he was in good spirits and playfully pretended to be taking a pee by the side of the stream. I took a couple of pictures of it, and also made a mental note of it of the pose, and we moved the shoot indoors.

Our next scenario was with a 9-foot gray seamless set up in the living room of the house. We did some shots with strobe, and I managed to get one where he had clinch fits, exploiting his villainess reputation. But I also asked him to pose as he did outside with his pretend penis, made with a hand and a thumb.

Getting a subject to repeat something they’ve done already is surprisingly reliable. I suppose there’s something psychological in having it originally come from them, and they don’t feel like they can decline to repeat it. He did the pose, and then I asked him to lean back more while doing it. The image ended up being strange, surreal, and a little disturbing. And then I printed it darker.

In person, Ike was low-key and agreeable, nothing as I expected. And I felt sorry for him. He was one of our greatest living musicians and an absolute pariah in the culture. Domestic abuse is terrible, very damaging and dangerous, and should always be taken seriously, but perhaps we can feel empathy for the bully, as well as the victim.

Top Image: Esquire “What I’ve Learned,” with Ike Turner. January 2002 issue.

Second Image: Chris: “I was in a period of trying to make visually dark photographs. My portraits of Billy Joel and Steve O of Jackass were also made around this time.”

Bottom Images: Contact sheet scans, at the backyard stream with Ike Turner, Greenwich CT. April 7, 2001.