Nîmes: “Johnny had enormous photogenicity” for his friend and famous photographer Tony Frank

Dedicate a new book to Johnny Hallyday with 600 photos. What first memory do you have of him?

Attending the Golf-Drouot, where we listened to rock, I saw Johnny for the first time. He was doing the twist in front of the jukebox. He was already admired by the others because he had just released a first single and was about to do a second. I took pictures of him that I lost. Johnny didn’t remember, I did! His best friend at the time was Long Chris. Also, I was able to do the cover of the Long Chris and the Daltons record, my first.

Do you find Johnny in the context of your work for Salut les Copains?

Yes it is that ! Photographer Jean-Marie Périer had created the little sister of “Salut les Copains”, a magazine for girls and was looking for someone. That’s how I got there in 1964.

From that moment on, I took the first photo of my latest work. At the time of SLC, therefore, we created combinations between artists. There, it was that of Elvis Presley, whose photo had been recovered from one of the films of him sitting in blue pajamas on a bed, with yellow sheets, and of Johnny.

How did you organize this photo shoot knowing that Johnny Hallyday was doing his military service in Germany?

We booked a room in a hotel in Strasbourg. I went to buy yellow sheets, blue pajamas. Johnny sat down on his side of the bed. We started talking. Then I followed him during concerts and we became friends during our discussions about rock and cinema, Marlon Brando, James Dean, our idols.

“With Johnny, a lot of collusion”

What explains this long friendship?

We enjoyed it. He just had to look at me to tell me he was fed up, to take pictures at such a precise moment. There has been a lot of collusion. When he was shooting, I was standing next to the camera. But I didn’t want to disturb him. Johnny said to me: “Don’t worry! Seeing you so much, I don’t see you anymore.” I took it as a compliment. In 40 years he has had to say no to me for a photo three times.

What model was it?

He had to prepare his photo shoot. I spent my nights listening to music to scribble ideas in notebooks. With Johnny, I went around the filming locations to find a decoration, a colored wall. When we traveled to the United States on Route 66 in 1990, we were changing cities every day.

I scouted every morning. Each time he failed because he got up too late. (…) Johnny, he also had enormous photogenicity. Once we got the corner, a bit western décor, he played.

Were Johnny’s best portraits taken in the studio or on tour?

The strongest are those of the concerts, especially at the time of “Black, it’s black”, the Black Birds orchestra with brass, soul music adapted from the songs of Ottis Redding, Wilson Pickett and even the Beatles with “I want to affect you in my life “. I was on stage to take pictures. Since I was feeling really good, I found myself stamping my foot. I had to stop so that it wasn’t blurry.

But the photo you love above all of him?

It’s the one where we don’t see Johnny in a clip, at 6 in the morning, in El Paso (Texas). A huge limo had been sent to us. Johnny wanted to rest in the car. When I go out, I see the door open, legs sticking out in cowboy boots and leather pants and this writing on the car: “Saint-Tropez”. He was the symbol of the rock star! He also liked this photo.

“I entered the Olympia from the roof”

Let’s go back to your beginnings. How did you become a photographer?

I spent the summer in Normandy, near Dieppe. One day, my friends set up a small photo lab. I was overwhelmed by the photos that appear in the developer bar. We took small surreal shots with the parents’ cameras, from the top of the cliffs or near the electric fences. (…)

Then, afterwards, I took the courses of a private school but I didn’t learn much. You learn by being an assistant, by watching and asking questions. Finally, this school served me for graphic design. I learned where the highlights of a photo were. After that, it became a habit, I kept an eye on it. It is innate!

For your first publication in the press, do a great coup, tell us …

It was 1962. I entered the Olympia through the roof and the bathroom window. I was able to photograph at the edge of the stage Louis Armstrong in concert among the photographers of the press. I was fired. Then, I don’t know what got into me because I’m shy, I went backstage. I asked where Armstrong’s locker room was.

And I found myself in front of him. I asked him in English if I could photograph him. I took three pictures of him with his dresser in the background, a policeman asking for an autograph. I phoned the Paris Presse photo shoot. (…) I was surprised to see my portrait of Armstrong later on on the cover of this newspaper.

“Polnareff wanted me for the poster”

And your first and perhaps only scandal? Is this poster where Michel Polnareff reveals his buttocks in 1972?

It was a time when as soon as we had long horses we called ourselves homosexuals. To answer, she had sung “I am a man”. We wanted to take a shocking photo. We had a first session with two different colored pants. We wanted a slightly feminine flounce shirt.

Went to the birth of the buttocks. I project it to the place where the model was. A friend, art director, sees this photo and finds it beautiful. He says we can do better by taking off our pants. I tell him I wouldn’t dare ask Polnareff.

We go to a restaurant to reach it. So we tell him to take off his pants. Polnareff gets up and leaves. The next day he calls me and tells me: “He will leave when”. We have completely rebuilt the furniture, the lighting. (…) The poster is then displayed all over Paris with her buttocks. I was summoned to the deputy squad and was tried for indecent assault.

This case has gone a long way. We ended up in court and also in the record company. Polnareff was angry with me because I dropped out of the case. I’ve been on bad terms with him for years because he claims he did everything for this poster.

“The discovery of Flemish painting thanks to Gainsbourg”

On the other hand, you have fond memories of Serge Gainsbourg. How did you manage to work with this perfectionist?

We worked together. I told him: “I think we can do it.” Serge gave me more details than Johnny. As soon as I had an idea, he offered me to add an element. He told me to stop by his house, rue de Verneuil, to tell me about an idea for a photo. I saw him in his office, which was actually his sofa, on which he was sitting, beside his Bakelite telephone and then what he called his “cendar”, full of cigarette butts, his two packs of Gypsies and his lighter.

He introduced me to Flemish painting, which inspired me for enlightenment. We didn’t take the photos right away because we spent hours at the table, drinking shot glasses. Afterwards, being very professional, the photos were taken … the next day.

Beyond the Gainsbourg portraits, you signed the Melody Nelson album cover …

For this photo, Jane Birkin did her own makeup. It was a very familiar atmosphere, as with Johnny. My wife started out as a makeup artist for Johnny. With Serge, Jane and Charlotte as children, it was the same. For the cover of Melody Nelson, Serge went to get a wig, Jane did her hair, she did her makeup.

Since I vaguely knew Melody’s story, the album wasn’t finished yet during the photo shoot, I chose the most pastel blue background possible. When he arrived, he was in complete agreement with my choices, including lighting. But Serge guided me through this session, explaining that Jane had to be smaller than the lens, slightly below the photo because she was playing a little girl. Her gaze had to rise.

We kept the full-length photo because it is more symbolic of Jane, it is a tribute to her, to her jeans, to her “Munkey”. Her soft toy that ended up in Serge’s coffin …

You often talk about the magic of a photo shoot that disappears after an hour. What do you mean ?

Photography professionals, such as actors or models doing their job, are able to give and have a presence in front of the lens. Aside from Johnny, who mixed the two, acting and singing, maybe Eddy Mitchell or Serge Gainsbourg, a singer or a beginner, it’s not his job.

I throw the first film in the trash because it’s frozen. And after an hour and a half to break everything, we feel that there is no more magic because the gaze is empty. They are fed up. You have to relax them. I did it with Serge, leaving two, three nonsense.