I found a hole in Arno's timeline regarding the photoshoot. I checked out the Arno Bani's bio in the link mack5K provided, thanks Mack. According to the bio, dated April 2006, Arno Bani was 25 at the time the bio was written. In the bio, it says Arno was 23 when he met Michael Jackson. Now for the math. If Arno was 25 in 2006, then he must be 28 or 29 in 2010. But if the photoshoot with MJ was in 1999 (11 years ago), then Arno Bani would have been only 18 years old when he took those photos. Yet the bio says that Arno produced his first fashion and beauty pictures when he was just 20 years old. At age 18 he was still in school and a floor assistant at some photography studios. Now if it's true that Arno was 23 when he photographed Michael, then that would have been in 2004 which was the year of the trial, which might explain why the pictures look more recent than 1999 and more importantly, why he looks so sad. But why lie about the date of the photoshoot? How can you confuse 1999 with 2004?
From the bio at http://www.arnobani.fr/#:
ARNO BANI - BIOGRAPHIE - APRIL 2006
Arno Bani's career began while he was still at school. A self-taught and determined individual, he took the decision at the age of eighteen
to become involved in visual art by producing his first pictures.His desire to learn the trade on-the-job and in a more professional way led him to finish his school studies. He spent several months as a
floor assistant at some of Paris' most famous studios. His wish, however, was to be able to put forward his vision of things from behind
the camera lens; he made good use of the facilities provided to him by his various studios and made a push for the big time.
At the age of just twenty, he produced his first fashion and beauty pictures in Sweden and began to make a name for himself outside of
Paris. He caught the eye of Isabella Blow, talent scout from the Sunday Times, who spotted his first offerings. They struck up a
relationship and worked together on successive occasions. The young Frenchman began to turn his camera to an ever greater range of
subjects and his confidence grew and grew.
His creations are the result of a blend of thought and instinct. The concepts of luxury and chic are reworked and displayed for all to see.
With artistic flair and taste akin to those of Ora Ito and Topolino, Arno Bani took a course off the beaten track of fashion towards his
own personal visual world, in which he expresses his specific vision of the feminine form.
His work was then noticed by Michael Jackson in the fashion pages of the Sunday Times. Jackson entrusted his image to Arno Bani by
commissioning a series of portraits. At the age of twenty-three, Arno Bani found himself face to face with a living legend with the task of
capturing him on film.This project sealed Arno Bani's reputation as one of the most talented photographers of his generation. He was subsequently taken on by
such fashion and luxury-item names as Lacroix, Givenchy and Cartier and by David Guetta, Bob Sinclair and the stars of Air.
Now aged twenty-five, Arno Bani is a famous photographer beyond the world of fashion. Based on oppositions - a mix of classicism and
modernity - his monochrome approach has now become omnipresent and can be seen in the pages of Citizen K, Spoon, Visionaire and
Jalouse. He has photographed Monica Bellucci, Mélanie Thierry, Romane Bohringer and Noémie Lenoir.
After the symbols of the Red-Black and the Puzzle which permeated his early work and left their mark, Arno Bani has now turned to
hyperrealism and "hypermatter" in his work on the image and the portrait. This departure is accompanied by the use of new printing and
photographic technology.
The Fondation Nicolas Hulot selected Arno Bani to devise an advertising campaign; his work was awarded second prize in the
photography section of the Club des Directeurs Artistiques.
He made his first film in early 2004, the video for the hit Rocking Music by Martin Solveig, DJ and French house-music producer. He
took the opportunity also to make his first advertising film for Hugo Boss' Deep Red scent with Anouk Lepère, and the Club Internet
campaign in early 2005.
In the summer of 2005, he was commission by the talented and famous art-buyer Isabelle BAUD to produce a film and photo campaign
for the opening of the new Modern Art Museum of Val-de-Marne (MACVAL). With the motto "Venez prendre l'art" ("A breath of
fresh art"), he retook possession of the conventions of modern art and projected them into his own creative world by stressing the
richness of materials and colour and touching on more human facet of art. The film won the silver price EUROBESTLIVE 2005 (the
european awards for creative exellence).
Begning of 2006, Arno directs the new DEMON "Happy Therapy" clip, starring Ora-Ito and Vahina Giocante, also made to promote
the first anti-depression perfume: SMILEY. With this project, he tries the 3D creating a Ruby's Cube.
Arno is also in charge of the perfume shooting photo campaign.
During 2006, Arno direct very conspicuous TV campaign for TPS, where he shoot make-up eyes, within the framework of HD
Television begins.
Then he comes back to the clip for the SUPERBUS and their tube Butterfly. In this film Arno put all the members of the band in a
spangle universe.
In 2006, for the Modern Art Museum of Val-de-Marne (MACVAL), Arno will get a new price, but this time in the very famous and
respected D&AD (Britishm Art Directors Club) Festival. He will receive a "Pencil" before being 30 years old.
