Harry Benson: ‘He walked into the casino vault and took out $1m’
I’ve been photographing Trump for over 30 years now and I’ve never heard him say no to anything. You can go the extra mile with him. He’s obliging, he’s got a sense of humour, though you would never tell him a joke. I once shot him on top of Trump Tower. He had a shirt and tie on and did a boxer stance. I’ve always wished I’d asked him to take his shirt off. He would have done it.
This was taken in the Taj Mahal, a $1 billion casino he opened in Atlantic City in 1990. When he told me there was over a million dollars in the “cage”, the place where the money is kept, I said I’d never seen that much cash. So he just went right into the cage and took out a million dollars. But it’s completely out of bounds, even if you own every brick in the building. Only the authorised – and I mean really authorised – can go in it. But he didn’t care. He wants it, he takes it, he gets it. He was showing off but then, as a photographer, that’s what you want.
He is vain, yes, terribly vain. But then I’m there paying attention to him and pointing a camera at him. I know I’m going to have to get him to do something special when I go to the White House, get him to jump on the table or something.
Election night was quite a night. My friends are shocked and crying. He spun the whole thing. It was unbelievable, all very disconcerting. I think he’s going to be well-behaved, though, for a while anyway.
Harry Benson’s CV
Born: Glasgow, 1929.
Studied: Glasgow School of Art.
Influences: “No other photographers. Lord Beaverbrook, who gave me a job.”
High point: “Going to America with the Beatles.”
Low point: “Bobby Kennedy: I was right there when he was killed.”
Top tip: “Buy a guitar instead!”
This photograph appears in Harry Benson: Shoot First, out in US cinemas, Amazon Video and iTunes on 9 December.
Chris Buck: ‘I see this as a portrait of a broken man’
I like to take awkward, vulnerable portraits. They’re more human than heroic ones, which were very much the thing when I was starting out in the 1980s. This shot is a particular success. It was taken for Philadelphia magazine in 2006, to accompany a piece about Trump getting into property development in the area. We were in a big dark conference room and the multiple mirror was one of the few things I could use. It adds a layer of complexity. He looks confident and strong in the reflections, but vulnerable in real life.
During the presidential campaign, people got really excited about this portrait, because it says something about him. They would talk about “the many faces of Trump” and I can see where that comes from. I found him offputting and obnoxious in The Apprentice – and in interviews, he’ll start off saying one thing then change his mind halfway through.
But having met him a couple of times, I can say he’s very different in private. He was quite charming, especially with a small audience of extras, gracious, funny and positive. His public persona in this election has been aggressive, though, and he’s been alienating whole groups of people. I see this as a portrait of a broken man. That’s my personal interpretation. Even the fact he ran for president is bizarre. I think he’s a damaged person. I don’t think he really wanted to govern, he just liked the idea of being president.
I’m shocked by the result. I thought it was a joke. But I do think he is a good negotiator and a great salesman: he might strike good deals behind closed doors. While he wasn’t my choice, he’s now my president and I’m going to wish him the best – and pray he does a great job.
Chris Buck’s CV
Born: Toronto, 1964.
Trained: Ryerson University, Toronto.
Influences: Irving Penn, Anton Corbijn.
High point: “A sitting with Obama in 2013.”
Low point: “Right after I got married, I had a tough couple of years financially.”
Top tip: “Good work always rises to the top, if you take your work seriously.”
William Coupon: ‘I had to clean bird poop off his sleeve afterwards’
This was taken in 1983 to go with an article in Manhattan Inc, a prestigious and influential magazine throughout the 1980s. It pretty much invented this idea of businessmen as celebrities. In the article, Trump expressed his desire to be a peace negotiator between the Israelis and Palestinians. So we decided to get this bird to symbolise peace. It worked great graphically – though I had to clean up the poop that eventually ran down Trump’s sleeve.
He’s not a very gracious guy. He’s temperamental, gets rather uppity. Every time I’ve met him, he’s had an off-putting attitude. I saw him playing golf while in Palm Springs, Florida, about three years ago. I showed him this picture on my iPhone and he said: “Loved the picture, hated the article.”
I shot him again in 1992, for the Jewish Defence League. He was holding a small baby tree. He looks a lot more suave and mature than here. His intention both times was to be some kind of broker. It didn’t ever happen though. It was just another one of his intentions. He’s a big-minded guy. His whole MO is thinking big. Everything he does is oversized. He’s maintained his pro-Israel ties, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with this Iran nuclear deal. There’s a lot of other issues: privatised social security, the supreme court. This is a radical shift in American politics and I don’t know what’s going to happen.
Back when Roosevelt won, radio was the medium. Kennedy had TV. Obama had the internet. For this guy, it’s social media, the manipulation of Twitter. He played it incredibly – it was amazing how he went at it solo. He’s not very collaborative.
His win was the result of this silent angered majority in most of middle America, and even some of the cities, where there’s been a lot of unemployment. Trump represented change. But I don’t know why they think he’s their pied piper, this shady New York character. He’s the guy everyone loves to hate. But I never thought he’d be the kind of person people would love to vote for.
William Coupon’s CV
Born: New York, 1952.
Trained: Self-taught.
Influences: Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus.
High point: “The 80s – the Reagan years, money was no object.”
Low point: “This morning!”
Top tip: “Follow your vision.”
Nigel Parry: ‘He wouldn’t pose side-on, maybe due to the comb-over’
This was for American Esquire magazine last year. They wanted to run a three-portrait cover – of him, Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio – looking like they were part of Mount Rushmore. When it got down to Trump, this was the result because he refused to do the three-quarter angle. “No, Nigel,” he said. “It feels like a profile shot to me.” No, Donald, I can see your other eye, so it’s not a profile. Why didn’t he like being in profile? Maybe he doesn’t like the wattle beneath his chin. Maybe he thinks people are trying to get a good shot of his comb-over.
So I got him to follow my hand, which I moved all around the camera. Then I got him to look straight back into the camera and this is what we got: his face in repose, the expression he thinks is strong. It looks a bit aggrieved though – rather pouty. To finish off, I put him up against a mirror. “Nigel, this has never been done before – this kid’s good!” Given I’m only 10 years younger than he is, I thought that was kind of hilarious.
This whole thing lasted maybe four minutes, for four different setups. His mood was fine – as long as you’re moving fast and jumping to what he wants, he’s agreeable. But I wouldn’t want to go down the pub with him, like I wanted to with President Bush Jr, who is cracking jokes all the time. Trump isn’t a joke-cracker, but he’s not trying to pull the wool over your eyes. He’s himself.
Bernie Sanders would have got my vote. Trump and Clinton were the two worst candidates who could have been put up. It was only because the voting room was so hot that I didn’t write an essay on my ballot paper and spoil it.
Nigel Parry’s CV
Born: Barnsley, 1961.
Training: As graphic designer at London College of Printing.
Influences: David Bailey, Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson.
High point: “Taking this kind of photo.”
Low point: “Digital photography. The future is bleak because of falling standards due to saturation of dreadfully bad plates of food on Instagram.”
Top tip: “Before you lift your camera, before you go to the shoot, work out what you’re trying to say.”