Artillery Magazine’s Luke Shirlaw recently interviewed Michael Miller in the build-up to his show “West Coast Hip Hop | A History in Pictures,” which opens TONIGHT at Known Gallery, Los Angeles.
“It’s pushing 11pm in Brisbane, Australia and here I am sitting and staring at my computer screen, attempting to weave together a series of words that will leave a vivid impression of the role that Michael Miller has played in capturing the explosion of the West Coast Hip Hop scene. After all it’s what his legacy deserves.
I was eight years old when Michael Miller photographed his first rapper; Arabian Prince in Los Angeles. At that time my closest exposure to hip hop music was Salt-n-Pepa’s ‘Push It’ via the compilation record; ‘88 The Winners’.
It wasn’t until my early to mid teens that I would come into contact with Michael’s photographs while starting to discover and collect the music of Cypress Hill, Snoop Doggy Dogg, 2pac and House of Pain. It was even later, as a grown-ass man in my thirties, that I would finally discover the man behind these iconic photographs was Michael Miller.
In the meantime, Miller was busy building an “expansive portfolio that includes over 300 major record covers, the most iconic supermodels of the ’90s and some of the biggest names in rap and jazz”.
With his book ‘West Coast Hip Hop | A History In Pictures’ hot off the press and an exhibition opening at Known Gallery in Los Angeles this Saturday night, I managed to pin Michael down for a quick interview before he jumped on a plane to San Francisco.” –Luke Shirlaw.
You grew up in Santa Monica, Los Angeles around surfing/ skateboarding culture and were an avid listener of AM1580 KDAY, the radio station that brought prominence to the West Coast Hip Hop scene. Yet your introduction to photography was shooting fashion in Paris and Spain. It wasn’t until your return to LA in 1988 that you started to work with hip hop artists, seemingly completing a cycle that began during your teenage years. Now with the steady decline of the music business, the cycle of life has you back working on fashion and advertising. How much of this journey has been intentional, or incidental?
MM: I think so much of it was by chance. I was lucky meeting certain people and being in the right place at the right time. I have always been a people person so I was always out meeting people and really open to new things. Optimism can take you a long way in life.
Read the full interview here.
MICHAEL MILLER | WEST COAST HIP HOP: A HISTORY IN PICTURES.
(Photo Exhibition and Book pre-sale event)
Secure your attendance to the photo exhibition and book pre-sale event by ordering your copy today:
rsvp@knowngallery.com or 310-860-6263.
Known Gallery
441 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
February 4, 2012 | 8-11pm
More info:
– ArtilleryMagazine.com.au
– KnownGallery.com