Robert Farber: I'm here with Douglas Kirkland, and I know everyone knows his work. Douglas has been a photographer for how long?

Douglas Kirkland: For over 40 years, Robert.

Robert Farber: And where did you get your start?

Douglas Kirkland: When I was 24, what really got me moving was I went on the staff of Look magazine, and that was a great place to grow up and to learn about photography and to learn about life.

Robert Farber: And from Look you went where?

Douglas Kirkland: I was at Look for 11 years. Part of that time I was under contract, and I worked for a lot of different publications, and I was permitted to work for anyone but Life magazine. But then after Look stopped publishing, I went over to the weekly Life magazine in the early 70s

Robert Farber: And it was from Life that you really started building up your portfolio of all the celebrities you photographed from Marilyn Monroe...if you could just name a few people that you worked with...

Douglas Kirkland: In the early days it was Marilyn Monroe, Dietrich, Judy Garland, Coco Chanell. The world was open to me, and these were the exciting days of photojournalism where if you were representing Life or Look the doors of the world were open to you and your camera.

Robert Farber: Then from photographing the celebrities, how did your career evolve to where it is today?

Douglas Kirkland: Many things changed my life, and after the original Life went out of business, it was a great shock. I did end up continuing to photograph celebrities, but I became interested in various areas of science. I got involved with the space program, got involved with astronomy, all sorts of things. Again, photography has so many possibilities, and it's so exciting. Then, in the early 90s, the world changed enormously for me when I was introduced to Photoshop and the computer. And that opened another world again.

Robert Farber: So you're really heavy into digital imaging?

Douglas Kirkland: I do quite a lot of digital imaging. It's very much part of my real photographer's world today, and I think if you aren't already involved in it, you should explore it yourself. I know you have, Robert, but speaking of people in general because that is the darkroom of today, the real darkroom as far as I'm concerned--the creative area that photographers have available to them.

Robert Farber: I agree with this desktop/darkroom concept. It's an incredible way to work now. But then your career and all of this was pleasantly interrupted with a big publication in your assignment with a great film...

Douglas Kirkland: Yes, you're speaking about Titanic. In the mid 90s I got a call one day, Jim Cameron's making a film called Titanic, would you like to do a book on it? That was the publishing house calling me, Harper Collins, and to make a long story short, I did that book called James Cameron's Titanic, and it was on the New York Times Bestseller list for half a year, and half of that time it was number 1. Not a bad spot to be in...and published all over the world as well.

Robert Farber: Especially for a photography book...

Douglas Kirkland: You know it's interesting with all the types of work I've done, that it's always still celebrities that everyone wants to know about. They want to know what Ringo Starr was like, or John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, and Leonardo is the latest ones. Some of the kids shudder when they think I've been with Leo. One of them asked me, "Were you with him, did you really talk to him?" I said, "With him? I was with him every day, dear." The little girl just started shaking. Anyway, the celebrities are generally the ones people want to know about, but I've been very lucky. I've been with people like Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland and the others. Photography can be so rich, it's permitted me to really follow my fantasies. That's why I have such a love for it.

Robert Farber: What an opportunity. And now's a good opportunity for the members of the workshop who want to ask questions. Let me read you some of their questions. What I've done is requested from our members to ask questions as if they had the opportunity to sit down with you and talk directly. So what I'm going to ask is from their minds and want they want to know.

Douglas Kirkland: It's interesting how I got started photographing celebrities. It was almost an accident. I was on a fashion shoot for Look magazine in California, and the editors asked me to see Elizabeth Taylor with a writer who was interviewing her in Las Vegas. They had said, "No pictures." I went along and at the end of the interview, I looked her in the eye and said, "Elizabeth, I'm just beginning at Look. Can you imagine what it would mean to me and my career if you would give me an opportunity to photograph you?" She thought for a moment and said, "Come tomorrow night at 8:30." Those pictures ran all over the world. She hadn't been photographed in that way for years and the world couldn't get enough of Elizabeth Taylor in those early 60s days. That catapulted my career, and before I knew it I was next photographing Marilyn and Judy Garland and Dietrich and on. And I was a celebrity photographer.

Robert Farber: Very interesting. Interesting story. I'm glad a member asked. In all of this experience, have you ever had any embarrasing moments?

Douglas Kirkland: I often have embarrasing moments. We're all vulnerable to moments like that. The type of thing that's happened to me is sometimes I forget people's names. They may be the most famous person in the world, like Robert Redford, when I was first working with Robert Redford on the set of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I could not remember his name. I kept calling Mr. Redhead, and he would get so angry!

Robert Farber: I don't blame him.

Douglas Kirkland: So, you see, later I worked on Out of Africa and a number of his other films, and have photographed him many times. I've since learned Robert Redford's name without a question.

Robert Farber: Good response, Mr. Murkland--uh...Kirkland. Doug, how do you handle the pressure of the editor's deadlines?

Douglas Kirkland: It's an interesting thing, how do we deal with deadlines. Well, what we have to do is pace ourselves. You have to say to yourself, "I know what I'm doing." You have to keep a cool, but at the same time you have to say I'm professional and I can deal with this. You really have to go into things pacing yourself all the time, and you have to do everything humanly possible to deliver on time, and of course part of that is persuading your subject to get in front of the camera quickly and when you need them. I guess, in a few words, I would say as a photographer, have everything 100% organized. Have no slowness, no hesitation when you're with a subject. Let everything happen quickly, easily, and appear to be automatic. You have one star there, and that's the person in front of the camera. That's how you get the picture, and you provide it to the editor within their deadline.

Robert Farber: Continuing with our questions, I want to ask you: Who's been your biggest challenge to shoot, and why has that person been a challenge to you?

Douglas Kirkland: You know who the answer to that is, and I would like to stress that everybody should remember this: the biggest challenge is always the person who is in front of your camera at this moment. There's only one star, and that star is the person in front of your lens. No one else, nothing else matters. You must give complete attention to them. So when I'm shooting, I have no other shoot, no other incident that I've done in the past, no matter who it was or what it was, that's more important than the attention I'm giving my subject at that moment. And that's the secret to getting great pictures of people, giving them your complete attention.

Robert Farber: When you first started out, how did you handle getting that first job? Were you nervous, were you scared, what did you do?

Douglas Kirkland: These really are spontaneous questions aren't they? I think my very first job was when I was 14. I got it in an amateur photo finishing during my summer vacation. Later on, it was a newspaper, and eventually, of course, as I mentioned earlier it was Look magazine, and later Life magazine. Each one of these had their own moments of uncertainty at the time, because when you're beginning, none of them seem easy. Looking back, it's easy to see how it happened, but everybody shares an uncertainty when you get started. You should really be assured of that if that's what you're doing.

Robert Farber: I guess...well, I shouldn't say I guess, in my own experience, until that self-esteem and that security builds up, you feel a bit intimidated, wouldn't you say?

Douglas Kirkland: Not only intimidated. I was very uncertain whether I would achieve anything because you know, each period it seems difficult to get into photography. Today, everyone says it's quite difficult, and yes it is difficult, but I tell you there are still ways of getting in. You have to deal with whatever your period is. What I did in the 60s was totally different than what I would have to do today if I was beginning. And that's the reality of getting started.

Robert Farber: That almost answers my next question. What single piece of advice would you give an artist trying to break into this industry?

Douglas Kirkland: In simple terms, I think the answer is you look at where you are, what the situation is, what the times are, and see how you can slip through the keyhole to be meaningful during your period. In other words, we see the Internet, we see the computer, we see all sorts of new things that didn't exist a few years ago, and ask yourself what new opportunities are going to be opened through this new technology. It may not just be the computer, but there may be different areas. In other words, you'll find in life that certain areas keep growing and expanding while other contract. Keep your eye on the ball and head into the area that's really happening during the time which you're getting started in.

Robert Farber: That's all a great advice, and I want to thank you. I think this has been a wonderful interview. And I want to thank our members who submitted the questions, and we'll keep looking for your work. We don't have to look hard to find it, but I'm very impressed with the work you do. Thank you so much for being part of this internet workshop and helping us here.

Douglas Kirkland: Thanks for inviting me into the chat room today. I enjoyed being here with you all.

Note: The above is a transcript of Robert Farber's interview with Douglas Kirkland. It has undergone some editing for improved readibility. You may also wish--or prefer--to listen to the actual original interview while viewing some of Mr. Kirkland's images.