- ✔ Nikki Sixx: One Step up from the Abyss
- I have an idea and it doesn’t matter to me how it resonates with people. A lot of people say things about my photography that they said about music. There is a little smirk that happens. But I go, “Well you were wrong once and you’ll probably be wrong again.”
- You hit a place where you go all the way back and reflect on your life. I’m 54 years old; I have more years behind me than there will be in front of me. You hit a place where you want to reflect; maybe it happens sometime in your 40s. I’m a father of four and a recovering heroin addict. I’ve been doing all this creative stuff, not for money, but for passion. Sometimes it does turn into money and I’m able to support my family and continue to be an artist. That is why I always support other people to become successful artists. I say, “That’s beautiful. If you’ve done it once you can do it again.” You can keep doing it. We all benefit from it. If you are a fan of a photographer or painter or musician, you can benefit if they can be successful.
- If you zoom in on the girl with the pained expression, you can see the track marks on her arms. She has tons of scars from the needles. It’s such a simple picture, but I wanted to include it because it showed some from of nurturing.
- I said I would like to take their picture if they’d let me and that my name is Nikki. I am a recovering heroin addict. She put down the box and told me she liked it there because of the couches. I gave her some money and we talked for a bit. She decided to come over to where I was and grabbed her bags and climbed over the iron fence. She sat down and we started talking. She asked if I minded if she got high. I told her no but asked if I could photograph it. Then she asked if it would bother me because she knew I was a recovering addict. Such compassion. After we were done, I told her I was going to leave. She asked if she could give me a hug. She gave me a hug and she held on a little too long. She just needed that and felt really grateful. So I started walking back to my car and she called out after me and told me I dropped something. I looked down and there were four $20 dollar bills on the ground. I asked her why she bothered to tell me that. She told me it was because the money was mine. This made me feel like I needed to be a better person. Here was a girl who has nothing, and she was concerned that I lost my money. I just gave her the money and thanked her. But I learned something.
- A friend of mine said it seems like she is looking into a better world. You can see her pain and where she is pulling her hair. I hope she was somehow seeing a better world.
- When I am out shooting and documenting, I feel that color distracts from the story. I don’t know why I feel that way. Almost everything I shoot is output in black-and-white.
may 7 2013 ∞
aug 6 2013 +
aug 6 2013 +