Allen Iverson

A word about the work

GRAN006

At the beginning of 2000, Allen Iverson was just starting to explode onto the basketball scene and his natural class dazzled the NBA. It was his talent alone that took his team, the modest Philadelphia Sixers, to the highest level. They went all the way to the NBA 2001 final against the Lakers. Sports Illustrated had wanted to feature him on the cover for a while. But each time they organised the photo shoot, the player « forgot » the appointment. « He isn’t unpleasant », they said, « he just couldn’t care less and does what he wants ». Steve Fine, the magazine’s photography director, called Gérard Rancinan to entrust him with this last ditch attempt.
The photo was taken in April 2000 and the session only lasted a few minutes. It was shot in a room in the Sixers’ sports arena, during a match that the injured champion wasn’t playing in.

Steve Fine warned me that it was a difficult task and that he wouldn’t be upset if I didn’t succeed. Allen Iverson wasn’t easy to handle.
I got to the arena for the appointment that the team staff had organised. One of the players, a Canadian who spoke French, was laughing : « You’ve got an appointment with Allen, good luck ! ». All the players filed past me on their way to the locker room and, a little after the others, I saw Iverson come charging along in gansta rap style clothes. We chatted for two seconds and I showed him the sort of shots I do, the portraits of the Pope and Fidel Castro. He grunted in approval. I told him how I saw the photo, that I needed him in kit, that he would have to go and get changed even though he wasn’t playing. I also told him about the wilted roses I intended to use in the shot and that were meant to represent the ephemeral side of success. He semi-raised an eyebrow. In his rapper’s jargon he told me he’d be back but I honestly only half-believed him.
I’d set everything up in a corner of the room, the lights, arm chair, everything was ready… And he came back.

Jean-Denis’s choice

Gérard Rancinan often says that when it comes to portrait photography, taking a pretty photo is of no interest to him. The portrait has to propel the sitter into his or her world, and tell a story, their story.
In this photo, as is often the case, he has achieved his goal.
Not only does it really show Allen Iverson, a young man from a modest background who achieved sudden success (his nickname was « The Answer » in reference to his ability to get through any defence, and also because some thought he was the answer to Michael Jordan’s retirement), but it also predicts his future (through the wilted roses) as we now know how badly his career ended.