tion for his shoots, Prince deemed the
Chateau Marmont Hotel in Holly-
wood to be the perfect spot. "The
style of the hotel was just what I need-
ed: low key, with the right amount of
historical reference for inspiration,"
says Prince.
"Chateau Marmont was a retreat in
those days, the place where studios
brought their young stars to stay when
they were doing films. It became a
hideaway, and still is for present-day
idols." The photographer set up a stu-
dio in his hotel room.
Other studio locations for the book
include his New York City studio and
a mansion overlooking Beverly Hills.
It took three years for Prince to com-
plete the startling portraits, with the
assistance of his partner, Westin Hill.
The book's 85 subjects include Lauren
Holly, Calvin Klein, Sarah Jessica Park-
er, Martin Sheen, Jack Lemmon,
Patrick Stewart, Griffin Dunne, Eric
Roberts, Drew Barrymore, Cathy Mori-
arty and Matt LeBlanc, among others.
For Prince, the defining hour of the
entire project came when Jack Lem-
mon walked into the photographer's
dimly lit Hollywood studio. The actor
said he was open to any suggestions.
"Mr. Lemmon was the absolute
essence of what I wanted this project
to be," recalls Prince, who also
recounts his meeting with Lemmon at
the back of his book.
"He was kind and courteous to the
group that was in the studio that day.
He shared stories of his travels with
his wife to Africa in pursuit of making
his own photographs, then asked me
to switch places so he could do a por-
trait of me."
Another memorable subject was
Drew Barrymore
"a real pro," says
Prince. "She plopped herself in front
of the camera and was a complete nat-
ural. Later, Drew sent me flowers and
a little note."
Perhaps it was the photo session
with Calvin Klein in New York that
most touched Prince. "To begin with,
I think the world of Calvin Klein,"
says the photographer. "He is one of
my most loyal supporters.
"But something funny happened
while I was getting ready to shoot. I
had Calvin in a leather chair, atop a
large white box, modeling him after
Rodin's Thinker.
"As we were about to shoot, the
phone rang. It was a call from Calvin's
office, but he couldn't move for fear of
disturbing the pose. Calvin's assistant
requested a cell phone, and as we
transferred this important call, we
learned it was his mother.

From top to bottom:

Jack Lemmon: "The absolute essence of
what I wanted the project to be."

Lesley Ann Warren: Greta Garbo look-
alike.

Sela Ward: Or Ava Gardner?

Matt LeBlanc a la Montgomery CO.

"It told a lot about Calvin, and his
relationship with his mom — the
respect that he, like many other Jew-
ish men, have for their mothers," says
Prince.
Was there a subject who was espe-
cially difficult? "Kevin Spacey had
seen some photos I did and asked his
manager to look me up," recalls
Prince. "He said he wanted to pose
for me, and I was thrilled. But when
it came time, he reneged, saying he
didn't think the actors in my book
were up to his quality."
But Spacey didn't put a damper on
Prince's project. "It's Spacey's loss,"
chuckles the photographer, "and I am
very proud of About Glamour. I was
able to accomplish exactly what I set
out to do."
What Prince also set out to do was
to donate all the book's proceeds to
the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. All
of the celebrities who posed, as well
as the hair, make-up and clothes styl-
ists, worked without pay.
"Saks Fifth Avenue supplied most
of the clothes, and a. local L.A. stylist
personally picked out the appropriate
attire," says Prince. In addition, some
of the•photos were turned into post-
cards, including those of Calvin
Klein, Peter Weller and Stockard
Channing, and will be used to benefit
Pediatric AIDS.
Prince's fascination with photogra-
phy can be traced back to his own
childhood. "My uncle Al [Yarrows],
Whom I adored, had a really cool cam-
era collection, and I loved looking at
all his unusual cameras," remembers
Prince, who grew up in Oak Park and
went to John Dewey Elementary
School and Clinton Jr. High.
"I really wanted to try them out,
but my uncle wouldn't let me. Then,
when I was about 8 years old, my
mom took me to an S & H Green
Stamps Redemption Center, where
she was going to get an iron. But I
saw this little Kodak camera and I
started freaking out that I wanted it,
and she got it for me. From that time
on, I loved snapping pictures."
When Prince was 14 years old, his
family moved to Long Island, N.Y.
His father worked in the automobile

industry and had to relocate for .
business purposes.
•
In high school, Prince contin-
ued to be passionate about pho-
o tography, and after graduation he
spent a year at the School of Visu-
al Arts in Manhattan, honing his
skills. His first professional job was
photographing hair dryers for a
department store catalog. Other
commercial projects soon came his
way. Prince photographed every-
thing from soup to nuts for
Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Saks.
He snapped Cartier's Christmas
catalogs in the early '80s and pho-
tographed jewelry for Fortunoff's.
The '90s brought a bevy of
commissions for Prince; he's pho-
tographed leading film and televi-
sion stars for such magazines as
Buzz, Vanity Fair and Mirabella.
One of his subjects for Vanity Fair
was author Dominick Dunne, who
wrote the introduction to Prince's
About Glamour.
Over the years, Prince has
2 showcased his work in various solo
exhibitions, including the Tampa
Museum of Art and galleries in
Aspen, Atlanta and Miami.
While he loves living in New
York and it's been an important
city for his burgeoning career,
Prince still has fond memories of
Detroit, including his years at
Temple Israel, where he celebrated
his bar mitzvah.
"I enjoyed going to Temple
Israel," he says. "It was a very relax-
ing and peaceful time for me."
Prince's About Glamour soon
will be in its second printing, and
he is busy working on future pro-
jects, including a book on living
` legends of dance and another
about dogs, which expresses his
love for canines.
For now, Prince, who is 44, is
enjoying reaping the rewards from
§ About Glamour, including appear-
• ances on ABC TV's "The View"
and "Good Morning America."
"I get calls- constantly from all
kinds of people, including journal-
ists and magazine editors, asking
about the stars I photographed,"
says Prince, whose fees can reach
upward to $10,000 a sitting.
"People are also calling to be
photographed for my next book.
This is surely one of the most
exciting times of my life and
career."

❑

o Alice Burdick Schweiger is an

Ann Arbor-based freelance writer.