In the pool at Prince and Mayte’s house in Marbella, Spain.
For this shoot, Prince said I should get in the water, but I was afraid of getting the extremely expensive camera wet, so I hovered off the edge of the pool. That was actually worse – trying to keep my balance with the increasingly heavy camera. The upside was plenty of interesting images, and I didn’t drop the camera!
© Steve Parke
Prince was an extraordinary creative, a man whose artistic vision defied genres. Although he’s best known as a musician, Prince created Paisley Park, an artistic headquarters where he could create, perform, and record. It allowed him space to play, a vital activity for an artist. Alongside Prince were friends and collaborators like Steve Parke. For 13 years, Parke worked with Prince as the in-house art director at Paisley Park, designing album covers and hand-painting guitars. While there, however, Parke had the chance to expand his artistic repertoire and photograph Prince over many years.
Over 570 of Parke’s images now comprise Prince: The Two-Volume Special Edition from ACC Art Books. The special editions offer a rare glimpse into Prince as he was at Paisley Park, his home in Marbella, Spain, and with his first wife, Mayte Garcia, and their dog Mia.
Parke selected all the photographs from his personal archives. In doing so, it added another layer to the images themselves; the resulting pages were picked by someone who knew him, not a person far removed from Prince’s life. There’s an air of intimacy to the selections. Parke, with whom Prince was both a boss and a friend, is painting another portrait of the person through the nature of the photographs included in the books.
“A lot of the shots didn’t have a deadline or a specific purpose,” Parke said to Wallpaper*, “so I definitely see the work reflecting more of the person I would see on a daily basis rather than the rock star—even though there are those pictures too.”
Many of the images were shot on the fly thanks to emerging digital camera technology in the late 1990s, adding additional context to the selected images. “[Prince] was very enamored with the idea that we could just shoot and he could see it right away, so the casualness [of the photos] came from the fact that we could just do it,” Parke explained. “It's like having a cell phone now—you take a ridiculous number of photos; way more than you would if you were using film. That’s what was different about having this immediate feedback. It gave him a lot of freedom to just try things.”
Prince: The Two-Volume Special Edition is perfect for fans of Prince and those intrigued by how an artist continues to reinvent themselves throughout the years. The collection is now available on the ACC Art Books website.
For 13 years, Steve Parke worked with Prince as the in-house art director at Paisley Park, photographing the musician.
Prince and Mayte at their home in Marbella, Spain.
Prince and Mayte with one of their dogs, Mia, posing on the piano. Mia was quite the trooper that day. I loved the light coming from all the windows and doors in this shot.
© Steve Parke
On the balcony at Prince and Mayte’s house in Marbella, Spain.
The beauty of the city is seen stretching out in the background. I took advantage of some really great sun that day and the local flora and fauna. And the marble balcony.
© Steve Parke
Over 570 of Parke’s images now comprise Prince: The Two-Volume Special Edition from ACC Art Books.
Paisley Park kitchen entrance.
This photograph was taken inside, just outside of the kitchen doors. The combination of colors on his jacket and the plants worked out very well. We also had the advantage of some nice sun coming down through the atrium skylights.
© Steve Parke
Paisley Park sound stage.
On the set of the video shoot for ‘The Greatest Romance Ever Sold’. It was a super fun time, getting to take behind-the-scenes shots, seeing Prince in this environment with all the people surrounding him – ladders, lights and cameras just outside the view of the video recording.
© Steve Parke
The special editions offer a rare glimpse into Prince as he was at Paisley Park, his home in Marbella, Spain, and with his first wife, Mayte Garcia, and their dog Mia.
Paisley Park sound stage.
Taken during a marathon session. Prince changed up his outfits, hair and make-up throughout the day and into the night … and into the next day again. This was from a series where he had put his hair into these little tufts and then donned a somewhat Gothic outfit. It felt like he was trying out potential new looks.
© Steve Parke
Playground at Paisley Park Studios.
The day we shot here, we ended at the playground in front of the studio, which had been intended for Prince and Mayte’s child and, as Prince told me, also for children of other employees at Paisley Park. Sadly, their child did not survived. I noticed his overall tone shifted dramatically to be more somber when we started shooting in this area. © Steve Parke
Parke selected all the photographs from his personal archives.
Paisley Park sound stage.
This series of images ended up being part of a poster for a ‘Hit and Run’ tour. For the poster, he had me Photoshop the image to make it look like he had nothing on and to put his purple symbol guitar into his hands as it had already been sent for repairs by the time we shot this image.
© Steve Parke
In doing so, it added another layer to the images themselves; the resulting pages were picked by someone who knew him, not a person far removed from Prince’s life.
Paisley Park sound stage.
in between photos sessions with his band at the time. I don’t think we photographed him with this particular haircut at any other time – and I liked it.
© Steve Parke
“A lot of the shots didn't have a deadline or a specific purpose, so I definitely see the work reflecting more of the person I would see on a daily basis rather than the rock star—even though there are those pictures too.”
Paisley Park sound stage.
I was photographing him and he had bent down and put his fingers like this so I made sure to capture this close up because his hands have a very specific and iconic look.
© Steve Parke
