Chuck Kuhn Interview
© NIKE Inc .
When did you start shooting for Nike ?
Chuck Kuhn : I starting doing photographs for Nike through an agency in Seattle called John Brown Associates . I shot basketball , football , baseball , and a little bit of tennis . I worked with Nike for around 15 years . At the time , I liked sports , but I wasn ’ t a total sports addict . Initially , the posters were shot for in-store use , but then the demand was so high that Nike eventually began selling them . They sell on eBay now for a good amount of money . It ’ s really considered an art form .
I think the first poster I shot was Paul Westphal , “ Going Home .” We were in L . A . at an urban basketball court . This was in the late 1970s , before digital photography . I took all these Polaroids to adjust the lighting and see what the shots were . All these kids were there watching me take photographs , so I ’ d give them the Polaroids . They were real wow moments for them . They all asked “ Mr . Westphal ” to autograph them . It was pretty charming .
How were these posters conceptualized ?
Peter Moore was Nike ’ s creative director , and he came up with all the ideas . Then we would meet and talk back and forth to see how we would implement them . Most of the sets were built by the Dumas brothers , Don and Doug .
For “ Iceman ,” we had to haul the ice into the shoot and it was melting quickly . I think we shot Moses Malone parting the seas in Seattle with the Dumas brothers . I believe I shot Moses three times . You have to remember , these athletes were young , and it seemed like Moses was always growing . No matter what outfit we made for him , it was never big enough . We shot the “ Air Force 1 ” poster at the Long Beach Airport ,
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