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PhotoSynthesis: Michael Jackson

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Los Angeles, 1971: Rolling Stone called me one day in Hollywood and asked if I would go to Motown Records and take photos of the Jackson 5, who were there for the afternoon answering fan mail. I think they told me to kind of concentrate on Michael, who was the lead singer. Now I photographed the Jackson 5 quite a bit in those days, and he was so young and he had just the voice of an angel, unbelievably pure, beautiful voice. And a very nice little boy, very quiet, very polite. I just said, "Hey, Michael, look this way for a minute," and that was it. I remember at one point he was playing with a lighter, he was kind of fascinated by the flame, you know, like young boys are.



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@lex@ndr@

im pretty sure they can do whatever the fuck they want

August 06 2008 at 5:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
@lex@ndr@

is it just me or do these pictures kinda SUCK

August 06 2008 at 5:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bruh

"Rose", why would you make such an idiotic statement?
About Beyonce, Tyra, and Michael, I mean? Mikey looks
extremely pale, of course, and likely does, or has done something to appear the way he does...but there is absolutely nothing whatsoever about Beyonce or Tyra
that looks "white". They are not even light-skinned,
really, but a medium brown color, if you will. Being
female, they wear makeup, and that, along with lighting, makes them appear the way they do...which,
by the way, is rather beautiful. They both are quite
physically attractive. Just because one is not as
dark toned as say, Grace Jones, does not make one
light-skinned....and certainly should not elicit any
dumbassed comments about looking/being "white". Some
of you fools should give what you've written the once over...BEFORE you click the "add your comments" box.
You shouldn't want all of the 'Net to see how stupid
you are. Beyonce, Tyra, "white"...puh-leeeeze!! I
guess Alicia Keys and the late Aaliyah are/were albinos. :-( :-( :-(

March 23 2008 at 4:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Liz

I used to work in the same building on Sunset Blvd where Motown was located in the late 60s and early 70s. They were one story above us and you could hear the music blasting from Barry Gordy's office when you were in that corner of the building.

Being in the building, you ended up seeing all of the recording artists on a daily basis in elevators, including the Jackson 5. Michael was just an adorable and friendly kid. He used to irritate me once in a while because you'd get on the elevator with him in the lobby and he'd hit every button for the elevator to stop on every floor all the way up. Just doing a normal kid thing and thought it was funny. You really couldn't get too upset with him because he was such a cute and friendly kid.

Who would ever have thought back then that this very sweet normal kid that would end up the way he has.

November 17 2007 at 1:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rose

Beyonce, Tyra, and Michael all bleach their skin to be white. one of them claims to have vitiligo... not true since vitiligo appears in patches all over the entire body including face and neck and hands get off it Jacko, you're bleaching and also using hyberbaric oxygen weekly. anyone in the nursing field knows what this is. wigs and white skin... beats the hell outta me why they can't stay the way they were originally.

November 16 2007 at 10:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Suzy

Look how normal Michael Jackson used to look like! That is amazing. Just look at his nose! Back
then, he must have thought it was big, but I don't
think there was really anything wrong with it. The thing that baffles me however, is the fact
that he made himself a little whiter!

November 16 2007 at 9:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Suzy's comment
you

he had a skin condition, vitiligo. There're patches of white skin all over the body.. but he covered it up with make up until it was way too serious, then no one would believe him.
there's a video on youtube "michael jackson and vitiligo" show when his makeup drips off on stage

July 01 2009 at 4:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply