Markus Klinko and Indrani both made sure to note that they are opposites in our interview, and this is true. They took their phone calls separately. I divided the questions in half after being told that they wouldn’t both be on the line. Markus, a former classical musician turned playboy photographer, was outspoken, candid, and lively. Indrani, a model and Princeton graduate, had a soft voice, was intuitive and reserved during our conversation. While the photography duo may not be household names, you’ve seen their work. From multi-platinum album covers to top ad campaigns to the pages of Vogue, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times, their images are staples of modern pop culture.
Despite their personality differences, their new book, ICONS, marks their eighteenth anniversary as a photography team. In a world where photography is the art form du jour with applications like Instagram and advanced phone cameras, the duo stays a step ahead as a team with complex ideas behind each image and post-production work. Even through trials like reality television, break-ups, and bankruptcy, this team is back with their glossy coffee table book featuring every superstar from Iman to Gaga. “We work together as a team. Our strength is that we agree to disagree and we work together not trying to have the same ideas but very opposite ideas, and we make them complimentary,” Markus said.
So how does their book fit into a world where e-readers are taking over and bookstores are going out of business? Markus fills us in, “This book actually sells on Amazon right now for sixteen dollars – a 224-page, super high-gloss, super high-quality book. This book was conceived so that hopefully a very large amount of people will get hooked to buy photography books and coffee table books because you know, what’s sixteen bucks? I mean that’s the price of a few magazines.” Markus asserts that he’s still in shock that the publisher could make this book happen and seems certain of its appeal. “We wanted to have young people that don’t necessarily buy books and never go into a book store an opportunity to get this book. This book will be sold at places like Barney’s and fashion websites. It’s not just going to be in book stores,” he said.
Choosing a collection of images was a long process with a lot of back and forth between the two, but in a way the images sort of presented themselves in the end. “You shoot an image for a campaign or an album cover, and it gets released and people like it,” Markus says, “But five years later, that’s when you really hear people like ‘Wow. I used to have this poster in my bedroom, or I remember when that came out’. So I think the selection of images is based on the natural growth that some of these images took. You know [these images] just kind of took a life of their own after their initial release.”
What have made their images exceptional are not just their infamous subjects, but their ideas and image manipulation in the editing process. “I think that, for me, a successful image really communicates energy and emotion or an idea to the audience. It’s not just a pretty picture,” Indrani said, “It leaves you with something unforgettable and figuring what that is going to be is the biggest challenge, but also the most rewarding thing because ten years later, people are still looking at it and finding inspiration.” The team focuses on conveying more than what meets the eye. “There’s an image of Beyonce that launched her solo career. That was a shoot where Beyonce danced and moved freely throughout the different shots. Then we combined elements to showcase what she’s really like,” Indrani said. “So the image you see, unlike the still photo, is all these different moments in reality.”
This style of overlapping images and capturing movement is what Indrani calls a “multi-dimensional portrait” and it seems to be the foundation and the hidden element that keeps their work relevant and their client list growing. “Photography has sort of become the art form that everyone can participate in, and I think that a lot of photographers find that challenging and threatening because, of course, they don’t want more competition,” she said. “But I think it’s really liberating as well because I think that is pushes those of us who do it as a profession to find ways to make what we create more unique, more meaningful, to add value in other ways than just capturing a pretty shot.”
After eighteen years together, it would seem that these two have found their perfect formula for success, but TV network Bravo cast them in a different light on their short-lived reality show, Double Exposure. While they remain proud that the show aired in over one hundred countries worldwide, it lasted only six episodes. “I would say that Double Exposure was almost an amazing show,” Markus said. “Indrani and I managed to have guests like Lady Gaga, Dita Von Teese, Naomi Campbell, and Lindsay Lohan – celebrities of the highest caliber. It was very unfortunate that Bravo and the production company wanted conflict of the lowest common denominator and pushed and sometimes falsified the story.” He says it was a lesson learned the hard way to stay away from low-brow producers and they are talking to a new network for another show that will focus on honest documentary rather than the drama in their personal lives.
While Markus and Indrani’s client list may seem endless, the beauty of the pop world is that new stars are born overnight. “When you’ve been around this business and you’ve shot a lot of the biggest names, there are still always a lot missing and we are looking forward to the next eighteen years to capture the rest of them,” Markus said. He’s looking to book Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, and Madonna. But his ultimate dream come true subject and collaboration? The Obamas. He describes them as an iconic couple and says, “We’re dying to shoot them, I mean, photograph them. I have to be careful how I say that. I’ll get the secret security after us.”
