I Had a Dream

(It is recommended by the author to read the first blog, "In the Beginning", in order to follow along on the series timeline.)

My dream came out of nowhere, and it took me by surprise. Most of the time it is hard for me to recall the context of my dreams, but with this one, I could remember every little detail. In my dream I sat across from Joel-Peter Witkin. There were cameras behind me, with lighting equipment off to the side, a boom microphone hanging from above and I was interviewing one of the world’s most renowned and controversial photographers for a documentary about his life and work.

When I awoke the next morning I had many burning questions in my head; the first one being, “Where did that come from?” as I had not thought about Joel-Peter Witkin for many months prior that moment.

Then I began to wonder if it was even possible! Could I make a documentary about Witkin? Surely it was only a dream, but why now? I pondered those questions for a couple of weeks, replaying the events of the dream in my head, and I decided to look into the possibility of whether or not it could be done. 

The first thing I needed to do was to find a way to contact Mr. Witkin, so I could ask him for permission, and if he would be willing to participate. I started to do some research. After a week of coming up empty-handed, I almost tossed in the towel. I figured it just couldn’t happen. Finally I decided to call in a favor from a friend who I knew could put me in touch with Mr. Witkin. This was to be the first of a long line of favors I would end up asking of my friends and family.

I called the number I was given, the line was ringing, and my stomach was turning as the nervousness crept over me. Nobody picked up, and an answering machine came on confirming I had the right number. I hung up the phone instantly when I realized I had no clue what kind of message to leave. A couple of days passed, and I prepared notes listing what I wanted to say when I called again. To my dismay, I got the answering machine again, but this time I left a message stating my intentions.

A week went by. I had not received a call back and I was starting to feel discouraged. I decided I would call him one more time as a final attempt to make contact. Any more after this and I feared sliding down the slippery slope into stalker territory. To my surprise, a male voice answered the phone. It was Joel.

Our first conversation lasted less than two minutes. I had caught him on his way out and I tried my best to be brief, while at the same time trying not to rush my pitch. He gave me his email address, asked me to send him all the details and said he would get back to me.

I wrote to him, explaining all the details about what I wanted to do. Being a film student, I wanted to start shooting the documentary in the summer of 2010, before the fall semester began. After waiting a week for a reply, it finally came. He called me and told me the timing was just not good for him, as he was planning to be out of the country for the summer. However, all hope was not lost. He ended the conversation by telling me to contact him next year, and we would talk about the possibilities.

A year had passed, and I was in the middle of the 2011 spring semester. Having a tendency to unrelentingly persist in my efforts to obtain my goals, I contacted Joel again to discuss my proposal. This time we talked at greater length, but he still wanted to see the proposal in writing and asked me to email him again. I complied with his request, and a few days later he called to let me know I had his permission, and he would be willing to participate in my documentary.

We locked down some dates for when my crew and I would travel to Albuquerque New Mexico for a series of interviews. The only thing I needed to do now was to find a crew.

Stay to tuned for the next installment… “Finding a Crew”. 

Please subscribe to this blog to follow along on this journey of making "Joel-Peter Witkin: An Objective Eye". 


- Thomas Marino