I forgive R Kelly

In 1994 I was hired by Jive records to photograph R Kelly in Chicago. Back then music budgets were pretty large and this shoot was completely over the top. We planned to shoot for three days at different locations around town including in the cover image of a majestic RKelly in front of the Sears Tower. We knew we had our hands full when we tried to rent a location van and found that no one in Chicago would rent us one because R Kelly had recently been involved in trashing one of the few location vans in town with the overly enthusiastic use of pyrotechnics. We managed to get the shoot done but not without having to jump over some pretty difficult hurtles, starting with the fact that R Kelly was 5 HOURS LATE!! And not just once, but 3 DAYS IN A ROW!! Including one day of shooting at his own house. He was 5 hours late to a shoot at HIS OWN HOUSE! Man, I was not very impressed. But I have to say 10 years later I finally sat down and watched “Trapped in the Closet” on IFC and I thought it was hilariously wonderful! I forgive you R Kelly!