In an incredibly told story by Bob Sipchen of Los Angeles Times, Baby Insane was the gang banger who robbed grocery stores by shotgun before the police officer called The Buddha saw something good in him and convinced Baby Insane to wear a wire to record the words of other gangbangers to be used in about 70 convictions before Baby Insane was wisked away into the witness protection program after this shoot. This portrait was made in a hotel room. The photograher had only one hour from the time...
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In an incredibly told story by Bob Sipchen of Los Angeles Times, Baby Insane was the gang banger who robbed grocery stores by shotgun before the police officer called The Buddha saw something good in him and convinced Baby Insane to wear a wire to record the words of other gangbangers to be used in about 70 convictions before Baby Insane was wisked away into the witness protection program after this shoot. This portrait was made in a hotel room. The photograher had only one hour from the time he walked in with his portable studio gear until he packed up and left. It was all done in so much secrecy that Mendenhall was not informed of the location for the photo session until he was delivered to this hotel secretly by the law enforcement officials. When Mendenhall said he wished he had a gun for this portrait, an unloaded one was offered by an official in the room. This image later became the cover photograph of Bob Sipchen's Doubleday book.
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