Michael Halsband Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basq

Michael Halsband

Born and raised in New York City, Michael Halsband started photography as a hobby at age ten. At school, almost by chance, he was shown how to make a print from start to finish. Amazed by this process, he ran home and announced to his parents "I'm into photography". They said, "If you're into photography in a year, we will buy you a camera". For a year, Halsband happily printed old family snapshots in the darkroom and understood that true creation takes place there. For him, every step in photography serves getting into the darkroom. As a teen, Halsband attempted to gain admission to The School of Visual Arts with his drawings & paintings. The head of admissions was not impressed with Halsband's work and asked if he had anything else to show. The next day, Halsband came back with his photography and was immediately accepted into the school. While attending SVA in 1978, Halsband began professionally photographing portraits for magazine stories and covers. By his third year at SVA, he made enough money to buy his own studio. Some of the people he photographed at that time were: Andy Warhol, Bernice Abbott, David Byrne, Walter Stedding, Glenn Branca, Alan Vega, Bob Guccione, Klaus Nomi and Lydia Lunch and Eight Eyed Spy. Klaus Nomi's portrait was made in February of 1980, and was part of Halsband's senior thesis. Klaus showed up with the space-like outfit that had just been made by a costume designer. Nomi wanted Halsband to be the first to photograph him in that outfit because he loved Halsband's relentless attention to detail. After graduating from SVA in the spring of 1980, he and continued to work for magazines like Interview, Avenue and Rolling Stone, making portraits including Jim Carroll and Peter Tosh. Currently, Halsband is working on a book of his photographs from The Rolling Stones' 1981 "Tattoo You" North American tour, focusing his energy on new commissions, continuing to work on his portraits with no end in site.