There’s an old adage that one should never meet one’s heroes… But I’ve always thrown caution to the wind with that saying and jump at the chance to come face to face with the people I have always admired. So, when R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe made an appearance in Rome to present his photography monograph (co-curated with writer and artist Douglas Coupland), Our Interference Times: a visual record, at MAXXI back in October 2019, with the ticket including a free pass to the book signing after the event, I grabbed my spot seconds after the box office opened!
The open-air event in the forecourt of the museum was introduced by Giovanna Melandri, the then President of the Fondazione MAXXI, with the on-stage conversation moderated by Dario Pappalardo, journalist at the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Pappalardo kicked things off by reading an Italian translation of the lyrics to the classic R.E.M. track ‘Nightswimming’ from Automatic for the People, which famously opens with a dreamy, nostalgic memory of a faded analogue photograph on the dashboard of a car. It was the perfect reminder of how photography had always accompanied Stipe throughout his creative life.
It goes without saying that all present had bought their copy of his book, and the queue for the meet and greet and book signing after the talk was very long indeed! We had been forewarned that he wouldn’t be signing any R.E.M.-related items, but that didn’t deter many fans who tried (and failed) to get handfuls of CDs signed. As I waited in line, watching as those ahead of me had only mere seconds when they met him, I became determined to make every second count when it was my turn! I unpeeled the cellophane wrap on the book and dutifully wrote my name on a Post-it note to attach to the frontispiece of the book, so he’d know what to write in the inscription. As I nervously awaited my turn, I started flicking through the book and was immediately struck that the photos were printed full bleed to the edges of the pages, so when I finally found myself the other side of the signing table, I asked him about that editorial choice. To my utter delight, he looked up, smiled, and started chatting about the photographs, and after he’d signed my copy, be still my heart, he reached across and shook my hand! I was on cloud nine.
This handsome hardback inscribed in blue ballpoint pen to me together with the city of signing, Rome, is a wonderful souvenir of one of my favourite meet and greet experiences.