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The Independent
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Trump, Epstein and Weinstein in the Nineties: What one photographer saw...
Dafydd Jones's images offer a candid look at New York 's Yuppie era, when Donald Trump was building up his property empire, Rudy Giuliani was cleaning up the streets of New York, Jeffrey Epstein had yet to be arrested for child sex offences, and Michael Douglas was riding high on the success of his role as Wall Street financier Gordon Gekko. Meanwhile, on the west coast, the photographer was busy capturing a golden age of Hollywood, before celebrities were surrounded by vast entourages, and the #MeToo movement was still a dot on the horizon. These images, taken before the turn of the century, give us a snapshot into the rise of America's future movers and shakers, when mobile phones were in their infancy, Facebook had yet to be created, and the hit TV series Succession hadn't even occurred to a twenty-something Jesse Armstrong. Working for the prestigious Vanity Fair magazine, as well as The New York Observer, Jones, now 69, was in the thick of a social group who would rise to the most powerful positions in the land. It was a time when the boundaries were blurring between business, media and fashion and the idea of celebrity culture was really taking shape. Jones was everywhere: from exclusive invitations to Oscar parties in LA and Wasp gatherings on New York's Upper East Side to political galas, restaurant openings and fashion shows. It was here that he would end up photographing a number of future presidents, including Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and Trump. Now, in two new books Hollywood: Confidential and New York: High Life/Low Life, he captures the A-listers, politicians, media magnates, financiers and socialites, who have since shaped our culture on both sides of the Atlantic, either by becoming some of the most powerful people in the Western world or by their spectacular fall from grace. Here, he talks about the moments he captured and his memories from that heady time. Donald Trump and Marla Maples and their wedding at the Plaza Hotel, 1993 Jones had a front-row seat to the breakdown of Trump's first marriage to Czech model Ivana Zelníčkov, mother of his three oldest children Donald Jnr, Ivanka, and Eric, and second marriage to US model and actress Marla Maples, who has daughter Tiffany, now 31. 'Trump and Ivana were ubiquitous,' he recalls, 'although they were looked down upon by the old-money set. They never minded me being around. Trump a reminded me of a gangster, arriving with a bodyguard when nobody else in New York had one, having very aggressive conversations and pointing at people in the same way as he did recently with Zelensky. 'I remember complaining to the picture editor of Vanity, Elisabeth Biondi, about the amount of space we were giving him and Ivana. She said that the photographs of his apartment in Trump Tower were very revealing because they were so tacky. I could never have predicted at the time that he would one day be running the show.' Senator Joe Biden Jones also photographed Joe Biden, when he was a senator, at the 1990 Democrats gala, but found he lacked charisma. 'Biden was nothing as prominent as Trump,' he says. 'He didn't make much impression on me. I photographed Bill and Hilary Clinton in New York, and they were much more places.' Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein He first came across Epstein at the 1993 opening party for the Harley-Davidson Cafe. 'Amongst the guests, I saw a wolf-like man watching the room from a balcony,' he remembers. 'It was a strong image, and I took a picture. Then I asked his name. It was Jeffrey Epstein. Later he attended New York School of the Arts fundraisers with Ghislaine Maxwell, but I would never have put the two together as a couple. A new arrival from England, Ghislaine slipped easily into New York society. I assumed she was living on some of the money her father had embezzled.' Rupert Murdoch Another billionaire that Jones encountered during his time in New York was media magnate Rupert Murdoch, then married to his second wife Anna, mother of his three children Elisabeth, Lachlan and James, who are now involved in a bitter family feud over their inheritance. 'Murdoch was much more popular in New York than Trump,' he adds. 'He mixed in more elite circles than Trump and was considered much classier.' Gwyneth Paltrow and Harvey Weinstein at the Vanity Fair Oscar night party, 1999 Clutching a cocktail, Gwyneth Paltrow, then 26, celebrates winning her first Oscar for the role of Viola in Shakespeare in Love with her brother Jake. But the film, which won seven Academy Awards and grossed $289m worldwide, was not without controversy. Disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of strong-arming his stars into participating in an unprecedented blitzkrieg of press in order to beat the critically acclaimed Saving Private Ryan. Paltrow later accused him of sexual harassment. 'Gwyneth and Harvey arrived together both clutching Oscars,' says Jones. 'I didn't notice any weird chemistry between them, but it was way before the #MeToo movement. I took their picture, but it didn't make the edit as he was not a very attractive man. I much prefer this photograph with her brother. You can see Richard Buckley, who was the editor-in-chief of Vogue Hommes and fashion designer Tom Ford's partner in the background.' Jonny Depp and Kate Moss , Danziger Gallery, New York, 1995 Their rollercoaster relationship lasted three years, but their friendship endures to this day, with the model appearing via a live video in front of a Virginia courtroom in 2022 during his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. The couple was introduced in 1994 by former Vanity Fair writer George Wayne at Café Tabac in the East Village, where Moss was dining with Naomi Campbell, and it was love at first sight. Jones captured the couple at the height of their romance. 'The thing I like about this picture is that it looks like Kate is sucking her thumb like a cigarette,' he explains 'while Johnny is actually smoking. They were a really glamorous couple, and they've obviously stayed on good terms because she was a witness in his court case.' Mick Jagger, Madonna & Tony Curtis, Vanity Fair Oscar night party, Morton's, LA, 24/3/1997 Madonna was at the height of her fame when Vanity Fair hosted its 1997 party: she had just won a Golden Globe for her role as Eva Peron in the movie Evita, and had sung its award-winning anthem 'You Must Love Me' at the Oscars. So, she was spoilt for choice for conversation. Here, she is sandwiched between Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and Hollywood veteran Tony Curtis, 'The photo that gave me a jolt of excitement when I saw it happening was the one of Mick Jagger looking miserable,' explains Jones. 'First, Mick was sitting by himself looking bored, and then Madonna crossed the room to sit down next to him. She started talking and he became quite animated. Then Tony Curtis came along, sat down at the same table and started monopolising Madonna – Jagger was once again on his own and looking miserable.'
CNN
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
‘People would leave their Oscars behind': Tales of a Hollywood party photographer
Photographer Dafydd Jones' Hollywood party pictures are littered with Oscars. They sit casually on star-studded dinner tables and are wielded by celebrities before the press. In some cases, the golden statuettes are even being used like tickets to enter Vanity Fair's exclusive after-party. 'I think Vanity Fair had a (policy that) anyone who had an Oscar could come in,' said Jones, who worked for the magazine from the 1980s, in a video interview. 'They had a guestlist as well. But if you had an Oscar, you could demand entry or just be let in.' 'I've also been at parties where people have left them behind absentmindedly and wanted to get them back,' he added. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Jones was flown to Los Angeles from New York or London to shoot major award ceremonies — and the many parties held before and after. The British photographer's new book, 'Hollywood: Confidential,' features almost 80 of his candid shots, showing high-profile guests dancing, smoking, gossiping or even (in the case of 1993 Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei) in the middle of eating an hors d'oeuvre. The images span A-list events, from bashes thrown by major movie studios to smaller private parties. Some of the earliest date back to when after-parties hosted by talent agent Irving 'Swifty' Lazar's were the place to be seen on Oscars night. But given Jones' employer at the time, most of the photos were shot at Vanity Fair's Oscars party, which was first held in 1994 to fill a void left by Lazar's death. 'It felt more like the end of the whole evening. A lot of the people who came to that party had started off attending the awards, then they'd gone to the Governors Ball dinner and, after that, it was the Vanity Fair party,' Jones said, adding: 'People were just enjoying themselves, relaxing and celebrating achievements.' At the beginning, Jones said he was one of only three photographers (alongside Annie Leibovitz and Alan Berliner) permitted inside the party. As a result — and thanks to his documentarian approach and 'unintrusive' camera — many of his pictures have a natural, unguarded feel. The photographer's book captures moments of unadulterated delight: Minnie Driver and Charlize Theron arm in arm; Kim Basinger clutching the Oscar she won for 'L.A. Confidential' in 1998; Gwyneth Paltrow, glass in hand, on the night she was named Best Actress for 'Shakespeare in Love.' Elsewhere, a pair of images show Tom Cruise (who had entered the party via a back door) gleefully reuniting with 'Jerry Maguire' co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. (who had entered via the front door) following the latter's Best Supporting Actor win in 1997. 'I don't set pictures up, and I don't hold people up either,' Jones said of his shooting style, adding: 'Sometimes (celebrities) go to a party and that's it. They don't want to be photographed. They've just spent the last eight hours probably being photographed and interviewed.' His reputation often helped, however. 'A lot of people, over the years, have been aware of my pictures and knew what they looked like. They knew I wouldn't want (them) to pose or stand in front of me doing anything in particular. So, they're quite relaxed.' Related article The stories behind 5 intimate celebrity photos Jones, in turn, was never starstruck, despite the admiration he held for many of his subjects. His work was not all about the guests anyway; he was just as interested in the spectacle surrounding the parties as the parties themselves. The cover of his book doesn't feature an A-list celebrity but instead, a microphone-wielding Kevin Meaney, the comedian, as he reported from the red carpet for HBO. Jones also turned his lens on parking valets, publicists, empty Rolls Royces and his fellow photographers as they packed into the press pen or staked out venue entranceways behind velvet ropes. 'There (would be) this huge lineup of press, film crews and journalists, all yelling at people as they go in — to try and get their attention, take a picture of them and get a quote,' Jones said. 'It was that scene that interested me, just as much as the celebrities.' Several of the images in Jones' book have never been published before. One of them (a rueful Mick Jagger alongside Madonna and Tony Curtis) simply wasn't selected by Vanity Fair's editors, despite being among the photographer's favorites. Others were shot for a magazine that folded before the pictures could be published. Yet, this latter episode notwithstanding, his images capture a golden age for print magazines, which were then making enough money to fly photographers around the world to cover parties. In the late 1990s, Jones even began witnessing what he called 'photographer inflation' both inside and outside Hollywood events, including Vanity Fair's. Related article What it's like to be a celebrity photographer at the Oscars Jones sensed that photographers' role was becoming more about promotion than reportage. And the influx impacted his work — not necessarily due to competition, but because it was 'the beginning of people wanting eye contact in pictures.' 'I don't mind if people look at me when I'm taking a photograph, but I've never demanded eye contact from my subjects,' he said. 'Then, if you've got a lot of photographers saying, 'Oh, will you look at me? Can you stand there, please?' It interferes with the party and also made it harder for me to work.' In any case, Jones said he 'never wanted to be a career Hollywood photographer.' He enjoyed passing through LA for big events, but he built a career in the UK, where he worked for several major newspapers and is renowned for documenting the excesses of British high society. By comparison, Jones reflected, Hollywood's A-list was rather restrained. 'They weren't letting loose in the same way as the English parties,' he said, adding that celebrities are 'almost harder to photograph because they're worried about what sort of pictures' might get taken. 'They're very much choreographed events.' 'Hollywood: Confidential,' published by ACC Art Books, is available now. A selection of images from the book is on show at 45 Park Lane in London until April 20, 2025.
CNN
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
‘People would leave their Oscars behind': Tales of a Hollywood party photographer
Photographer Dafydd Jones' Hollywood party pictures are littered with Oscars. They sit casually on star-studded dinner tables and are wielded by celebrities before the press. In some cases, the golden statuettes are even being used like tickets to enter Vanity Fair's exclusive after-party. 'I think Vanity Fair had a (policy that) anyone who had an Oscar could come in,' said Jones, who worked for the magazine from the 1980s, in a video interview. 'They had a guestlist as well. But if you had an Oscar, you could demand entry or just be let in.' 'I've also been at parties where people have left them behind absentmindedly and wanted to get them back,' he added. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Jones was flown to Los Angeles from New York or London to shoot major award ceremonies — and the many parties held before and after. The British photographer's new book, 'Hollywood: Confidential,' features almost 80 of his candid shots, showing high-profile guests dancing, smoking, gossiping or even (in the case of 1993 Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei) in the middle of eating an hors d'oeuvre. The images span A-list events, from bashes thrown by major movie studios to smaller private parties. Some of the earliest date back to when after-parties hosted by talent agent Irving 'Swifty' Lazar's were the place to be seen on Oscars night. But given Jones' employer at the time, most of the photos were shot at Vanity Fair's Oscars party, which was first held in 1994 to fill a void left by Lazar's death. 'It felt more like the end of the whole evening. A lot of the people who came to that party had started off attending the awards, then they'd gone to the Governors Ball dinner and, after that, it was the Vanity Fair party,' Jones said, adding: 'People were just enjoying themselves, relaxing and celebrating achievements.' At the beginning, Jones said he was one of only three photographers (alongside Annie Leibovitz and Alan Berliner) permitted inside the party. As a result — and thanks to his documentarian approach and 'unintrusive' camera — many of his pictures have a natural, unguarded feel. The photographer's book captures moments of unadulterated delight: Minnie Driver and Charlize Theron arm in arm; Kim Basinger clutching the Oscar she won for 'L.A. Confidential' in 1998; Gwyneth Paltrow, glass in hand, on the night she was named Best Actress for 'Shakespeare in Love.' Elsewhere, a pair of images show Tom Cruise (who had entered the party via a back door) gleefully reuniting with 'Jerry Maguire' co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. (who had entered via the front door) following the latter's Best Supporting Actor win in 1997. 'I don't set pictures up, and I don't hold people up either,' Jones said of his shooting style, adding: 'Sometimes (celebrities) go to a party and that's it. They don't want to be photographed. They've just spent the last eight hours probably being photographed and interviewed.' His reputation often helped, however. 'A lot of people, over the years, have been aware of my pictures and knew what they looked like. They knew I wouldn't want (them) to pose or stand in front of me doing anything in particular. So, they're quite relaxed.' Related article The stories behind 5 intimate celebrity photos Jones, in turn, was never starstruck, despite the admiration he held for many of his subjects. His work was not all about the guests anyway; he was just as interested in the spectacle surrounding the parties as the parties themselves. The cover of his book doesn't feature an A-list celebrity but instead, a microphone-wielding Kevin Meaney, the comedian, as he reported from the red carpet for HBO. Jones also turned his lens on parking valets, publicists, empty Rolls Royces and his fellow photographers as they packed into the press pen or staked out venue entranceways behind velvet ropes. 'There (would be) this huge lineup of press, film crews and journalists, all yelling at people as they go in — to try and get their attention, take a picture of them and get a quote,' Jones said. 'It was that scene that interested me, just as much as the celebrities.' Several of the images in Jones' book have never been published before. One of them (a rueful Mick Jagger alongside Madonna and Tony Curtis) simply wasn't selected by Vanity Fair's editors, despite being among the photographer's favorites. Others were shot for a magazine that folded before the pictures could be published. Yet, this latter episode notwithstanding, his images capture a golden age for print magazines, which were then making enough money to fly photographers around the world to cover parties. In the late 1990s, Jones even began witnessing what he called 'photographer inflation' both inside and outside Hollywood events, including Vanity Fair's. Related article What it's like to be a celebrity photographer at the Oscars Jones sensed that photographers' role was becoming more about promotion than reportage. And the influx impacted his work — not necessarily due to competition, but because it was 'the beginning of people wanting eye contact in pictures.' 'I don't mind if people look at me when I'm taking a photograph, but I've never demanded eye contact from my subjects,' he said. 'Then, if you've got a lot of photographers saying, 'Oh, will you look at me? Can you stand there, please?' It interferes with the party and also made it harder for me to work.' In any case, Jones said he 'never wanted to be a career Hollywood photographer.' He enjoyed passing through LA for big events, but he built a career in the UK, where he worked for several major newspapers and is renowned for documenting the excesses of British high society. By comparison, Jones reflected, Hollywood's A-list was rather restrained. 'They weren't letting loose in the same way as the English parties,' he said, adding that celebrities are 'almost harder to photograph because they're worried about what sort of pictures' might get taken. 'They're very much choreographed events.' 'Hollywood: Confidential,' published by ACC Art Books, is available now. A selection of images from the book is on show at 45 Park Lane in London until April 20, 2025.
