GREATEST HITS: Jane’s Addiction

Way back in 1989 I went to Santa Barbara to see the band Mary’s Danish do a show on campus at UCSB.  They were good friends of mine and opened for a band I had never heard of at the time… Jane’s Addiction.  I was so into Jazz, Funk, Pop & Rock.  Seeing Jane’s Addiction come on stage and do their thing blew my fucking mind!  I had never seen or heard anything like them before.  It was love at first sight and sound.  I remember coming back and telling my cool, hip, rock friends and they laughed at me.  They told me Jane’s had been around for a while and I was late to the party.

My first shoot was with lead singer Perry Farrell for Exposure Magazine.  I got the iconic Jesus Christ Pose photo at the shoot, but the magazine didn’t like the results so I shot him again.  This time we painted him silver and the rest is history.  

After these shoots I slowly started meeting and shooting each member for different reasons.  In July of 1990 I got to shoot the publicity photos for Ritual De Lo Habitual.  This was the first time I shot the band together.  I got to know them and their management very well.  This respect and trust led to me shooting them as much as I could for almost two years.

I shot a bunch of live shows, a handful of Lollapaloozas, behind the scenes, portraits and the infamous “Last Show” in Hawaii.  I will always be grateful for the trust they gave me so that I could get the best photos ever.  They let me shoot whatever I wanted and never put any restrictions on me.  The best part of this time was the music & all the experiences that I had.  I’m so lucky I got these photos to remember it all.