“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.”

—Irving Penn

In 1986, Irving Penn was hired by Warner Brothers Records to photograph Miles Davis for his new album Tutu. With art direction by Eiko Ishioka, the resulting album portraits, including the present work, remain some of the most timeless, indelible photographs of the famed jazz musician and earned Ishioka the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Album Package.  

On this shoot, Penn reminisced: 

I tried to talk to [Davis] when he walked in, but he completely ignored me. Once [he] had finished primping, he stepped in front of the camera.  

‘I bet you want me to take this shirt off?’ 

‘Yep,’ I replied.  

‘I bet you want me to take all these gold chains off, too?’ 

‘Yep,’ I said again.  

Then, for about an hour, we went to work. At the end, I said, ‘Thank you very much.’ 

He got up, came over to me, and kissed me on the mouth. I didn’t know what to say. We shook hands, and he left. Later, I got the chance to know his music, and it struck me as being visual art of a most profound kind. How terrible I couldn’t share that with him then.