Reggie Garcia's work as a freelance photographer in Hollywood durng the 1970s brought some very interesting days for the college student, but none more rewarding than the day he spent with Michael Jackson. Garcia got the call of a lifetime to photograph Michael Jackson and his brothers during a video shoot at Sunset Gower Studios in March 1978.
Now five of those dozens of images will be seen in Spike Lee's documentary "Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall," which will be broadcast on Showtime after it premieres at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Garcia is also sharing 13 of his remarkable images in a book he titled "My Day With Michael Jackson." Most of Garcia's photos are black and white, but he did use color film for some photos. Some of the images captured Michael with brothers Marlon, Tito, Randy and Jackie. The Jacksons were in the middle of their "Goin' Places" tour at the time.
Garcia took advantage of downtime during the video shoot to photograph Michael alone on black and white film. Several remarkable frames are of Michael sitting in a director's chair near large mirrors that Garcia knew would help create memorable images.
One striking photograph is of Michael Jackson standing in front of a large wardrobe mirror nearly a decade before he recorded "Man in the Mirror."
Garcia's camera captured a 19-year-old Michael Jackson in 1978, just before his stardom would grow exponentially. Michael would soon perform as the Scarecrow in "The Wiz" film, where he would meet producer Quincy Jones.
Jones, who would produce three huge albums for him, starting the next year with "Off The Wall."
Michael Jackson was an easy subject to work with, Reggie Garcia says about his day photographing the singer. Garcia asked Jackson to pose as he was reading a break-up letter while he snapped away. The result is a remarkable series of images of Michael just before his career began another phase with his "Off The Wall" album.
Click here to purchase a copy of the first edition of "My Day With Michael Jackson" via Amazon.
