JPG: And then there’s the Jimmy Page photo from the Richfield Coliseum in 1977 that he used in his book. How did he know about that one?

JM: How did Jimmy know about that one? That’s a good question. Genesis Books in England, they do limited edition books. They did the first version of that book. I think there was 2,000 copies or something and they sold out immediately. I got an email from Genesis Books. I’ve known those people for awhile. Off and on, I work with them. And they said, “Jimmy’s doing this book. He’s not doing a normal biography book. He’s doing his autobiography in photographs and they want to use your photo.” For that one they used it on the inside but they liked it so much that they also wanted to do a deal to use it for promotion of the book. I figured Genesis picked the photos for them. I said, “Did you guys pick the photos for him?” They said, “No, either he or his people researched everything ever shot on Jimmy Page, whatever they could find, and he really loved that photo.”

They used it that time and I got paid some money and I got a book. Then, because it sold out so quickly, they decided to do the publication you can buy in a bookstore. Genesis came to me again and said, “Jimmy’s going to do a mass trade publication of the book but this time he wants to put your picture on the back cover.” I go, “Really?!??” You think of all the photographers that have shot Jimmy Page including those that went on tour with him and he’s decided that my picture’s going to be on the back cover. So, we do that deal. Now I’m starting to correspond with people that work with him. Last year, I went to London for a week for a friend’s wedding and I met with a couple of Jimmy Page’s people. They said, “Yeah it’s one of his top 10 favorite photos. He always refers to it as the doubleneck guitar shot.”

How can these things happen? I don’t know how they happen. That’s the magic of having photographed rock and roll for 40 years in Cleveland, Ohio primarily but in other places. And when it comes back to you that the artists know your photos. Bowie knew my photos and used them on projects. Jimmy Page is using my photos. You’ve got to pinch yourself. It’s just beyond comprehension.

Anyhow, I’m gonna do a couple more projects with Jimmy using that photo probably this year. They said, “With Jimmy you put stuff in the pipeline. He has these ideas and projects and you put ‘em in a pipeline. You never know when they’re going to pop out. It could take two years. It could take two months.” He just kinda says, “Okay, now it’s time. We’re going to do the limited edition print. Now, we’re going to do the designer t-shirt.”Then you run with it. They just work on these things he wants to do and then as soon as he decides he wants to do ‘em, poof, they come out. Now that I know that that’s how he works, I don’t stress about it because before having that conversation with them I just thought, “Well, they told me he wants to do a limited edition print. When’s that going to be?” And six months would go by. A year has gone by. It’s still not happening but now I know it’s going to happen I just don’t know when.

JPG: Just a matter of making sure you have it where you need it to be when you need it.

JM: I did something called a drum scan. It’s the highest quality scan you can get from any kind of negative. So I had a drum scan done and I had my lab, I sat there, while we tweaked the image. They have it in the best version available. That’s all I need to know is I’ve done my part.

JPG: Now your work has become a combination of old school film and digital technology.

JM: Digital for me has expanded the way…it actually sees light differently that helps me with the photographs I’m shooting of live performers because it adds another dimension. You can wait for swatches of color to come in from behind and stuff like that but it also can confound the camera, “What the hell am I supposed to be looking at here?!?” It’s the double-edged sword.

JPG: I used to shoot with film as well. And I tell people that the greatest thing about digital is that I know right away if a photo looks okay to me rather than thinking that everything is fine, waiting a day or longer for the film to be processed and finally overjoyed with the results or saddened that it didn’t turn out in the way I thought it would.

JM: Yes, you can correct it in the moment.

JPG: But, like ultra-high definition televisions the one thing about digital that I’m still contemplating whether or not I should do as well, is the very sharp, hyper-realistic portrayal of subjects and seeing every wrinkle, pockmark, pimple, etc.

JM: It’s interesting that you called it “hyper-realism” because it is but I know the guy who shoots for Cleveland Institute of Art and he was showing one of the guys at the Rock Hall how to do that. And I’m thinking, when I look at all these photos it doesn’t look real. It’s hyper-realism. It’s a freaky weird effect. I’m not sure if that’s where we’re going or that happens to be a style.

I find myself, too, when I’m scanning photos that I crank up the sharpness a little bit. Somebody told me, “You’re Jimmy Page looks a little soft.” And I said, “Yeah, but it was film. It was 1977. He was moving. So, if you perceive it to be soft – I think it’s a fine photo – it’s probably because you’re so used to all the crispy clear shots that people are using and how much they mess with the digital image before they put it out there.”

JPG: It’s a consideration now if I want to use some of my older shots in an exhibit.

JM: Nah…I think it’s a matter of taste and style but I hope it doesn’t become the norm.

JPG: Then there’s your infamous DEVO shot in front of Chili Mac, which thanks to technology is in multiple versions – black and white, only the band and sign in color…

JM: That was a collaboration. That was the city of Akron wanting to make this giant building-size Chili Dog Mac shot. I said, “That’s very cool. Let me call the band.” I called the man who pretty much does practically everything for DEVO, Michael Pilmer, who also happens to be a graphic design artist. I said, “Michael, can you imagine this being on the side of a building? He goes, “It’s gonna be so cool. How do you feel about putting the color back in the outfits?” I said, “That’d be great.” “We actually have something we call DEVO yellow. It’s like the yellow that we used back then.” I said, “Fine. I’m going to put this in your hands.” He talked to Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale of the band and pretty much we put the yellow back in. I think the letters on Chili Dog Mac we did red and it just popped.

I love that. Now when people ask, “Can I get a copy of “Chili Dog Mac?” I say, “Well, which version do you want? Do you want the original 1978 version or the new version?”

JPG: For that particular photo shoot with DEVO you shot in color and black and white?

JM: Mostly black and white, probably three, four rolls of black and white and a smattering of color.

JPG: And once again, you had an assignment but there was a degree of good timing and trust between you and the musicians.

JM: We were all on the same wavelength. They didn’t have a record contract yet in America but they were big…Stiff Records put out an EP for them (1977’s “B Stiff”). I don’t know what else. I think they were just working off an EP but they went to England and to Europe and were working that record because that’s where they were getting publicity. They became the darlings of the British music papers. They were on the covers of the music papers. They had never seen anything like this before. The British music papers started saying that Akron was going to be the next Liverpool and that all these great bands were coming out of Akron. One of the publications, “Sounds” magazine had a picture of DEVO on the cover and it says “Win a Trip to Akron!” [laughs] I know.

Knowing this, because I’d been over to England in ‘77 and got an agent, I kind of lived by what the British music papers were writing about. They were ahead of the game. I watched what they were writing about and then I covered those bands. So, when DEVO found out they were going to do a promo film for “Satisfaction” and I think they were on the verge of getting a deal in America, but the truth was I shot that because the British music papers wanted shots of DEVO in Akron. They wanted to see what Akron looked like; this mythical place. I shot them doing the video for “Satisfaction” at the Akron Civic Theatre and then we just walked up and down the street and took some shots.

It’s probably 15 minutes of walking up and down the street with DEVO but I got some really magical stuff. I didn’t have to coach anybody. They were ready for it.

JPG: Getting those type of off-the-cuff portraits with people, like the Joan Jett sitting atop the trashcan. Her sitting like that was impressive…

JM: Well, she was 16 or 17. I guess, she could do that then. (slight laugh)

JPG: …or the Debbie Harry shot of her using the gate as a prop; the subject and the photographer being inventive.

JM: Again, it’s kind of indicative of the times and the relationship that you could have with an artist because it was…collaboration was the word of the day. We were all going to the same place. We were all on that ladder trying to climb it. They didn’t see me or photographers as a threat. Maybe they saw other photographers as a threat but I wasn’t. And they were easy to work with for the most part.

JPG: You have had your work published in the past such as the one focused on Alex Harvey but you truly consider “All Access” your first book. I bring it up because it took awhile for you to do a career retrospective.

JM: The Alex Harvey book is just on Blurb. I did that with a journalist over in Scotland. And I did it for the Alex Harvey fans over there mostly, although, many people have bought it over here. There was a booklet that I put out for my exhibition at the Rock Hall in 2004.

I’m working with a Jewish Museum in Austria. And they’re using my “Jews Rock” photos for the exhibition and for their catalog. I’m working with a Jewish Art Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma on a “Jews Rock” presentation in the next couple months.

The reality of the photography book has changed over the years, just like publishing. No more Borders bookstores. Things have changed. Alex is self published. The Rock Hall book is self published. So, All Access is really the first book, if you say that a publishing company published your book and you didn’t pay for it. It depends on how you define that but this is really my first published book as far as I can see.

But it didn’t take the form of most coffee table photography books you would have seen in the past because the market doesn’t embrace that anymore. What I figured to do, and this was based on just being on Facebook, I’d post a photo and tell a little story about it, and then it would blow up. People would want to talk about it. Had a lot of fun seeing these photos. I thought, “Well, that’s all people really want, isn’t it? See some cool photos and hear some stories about how that came about. It doesn’t have to be a big coffee table hardbound book, which no publishing company wants to make anymore because they lose money. Really, it just needs to be peeling back the curtain a little bit and telling a few stories about how photos happened or what was happening in that day and age or why the World Series of Rock was fun or Swingos was fun. Stories and memories.”

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