‘I had this idea to create my own locations in New York. This was an abandoned barber shop. I painted the background rose. The guy worked in a fast-food joint next door. When it was published in Vogue, they cropped him out of the picture.’
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
‘This is on the river in Moscow. I didn’t think I’d get a Russian girl to pose for me in a bikini but she was happy to do it. She thought she was the centre of the photograph but the wide-angle lens captures her grandfather and grandmother too.’
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
‘This was the funeral of the communist leader. They are not typical Parisians. They came in from the suburbs and the countryside to mourn the loss of a leader. I just walked along the road photographing these rows of extraordinary faces.’
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
Painted contact
‘It was freezing and they were courageous in their bathing suits. The idea for the colour and graphics comes from the red lines photographers put around their choices on a contact sheet.’
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
‘These are butoh dancers in Tokyo. I was a star in Japan so they asked me to photograph them. It was my idea to go out into the streets. It was the first street happening in Tokyo.’
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
Painted contact
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
‘I was passionate about boxing and I got on well with Ali. He was real smart. He knew that by just going around saying “I am the greatest” he offended white America. They couldn’t stomach it, but it turned out to be true.’ Photograph: Optimum Films
Painted contact
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
‘This is old New York before Times Square became a place for whores and junkies and pickpockets. They had rows of cinemas on 42nd Street. I saw the car and the people and I instinctively put the shot together. I’m always thinking compositionally.’
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
Photograph: William Klein/HackelBury Fine Art, London
