Portrait photographer Chris Buck has interacted with some pretty big personalities while on set. From Barack Obama to Willie Nelson, Buck has been photographing actors, musicians, and politicians since the mid-1980s.
His images have a sense of humor that he describes as "uneasy," which, as it happens, is also the title of his new book of more than 300 portraits. Placing his subjects in what some might consider "uncomfortable" positions, Buck has collected a mass of interesting photographs, as well as some fantastic stories from being on set.
Here are our favorite behind-the-scenes stories from his latest book. All captions were provided by Buck.
SEE ALSO: The best photos from 66 countries, according to the largest competition in the world
Barack Obama, 2013
"The president came in, shook everyone's hand, then went to where our seamless was set up. As he took his seat I asked, 'Sir, are you chewing gum?' He said, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of it.' I said, 'Well, if I see it again, I'll be talking to you about it.'
The magazine had worked out three setups for us with the White House. The rest was relatively tight, with the president facing straight into the camera. The second was a classic three-quarter portrait, with him looking off, and the third was pulled back, showing the full lighting and seamless set up in the Map Room.
A few frames into the second setup, I said, 'Sir, keep your head position, but look with your eyes to the camera.' He followed my direction but said, 'I don’t do that.' I shot anyway. I felt like I'd spent the first 25 years of my career preparing to defy a sitting president to get the shot that I wanted."
Leonard Cohen, 2001
"He could tell I was nervous, and I told him that I really wanted to do something great and special. He looked at me and said, 'If you are meant to make a really wonderful picture, there is nothing in this world or any other that can stop that from happening.' And I thought, 'Wow, that's cool.'
He paused and then said, 'If you're meant to make a bad picture, there's nothing in this world or any other that can stop that either.'"
Donald Trump, 2006
"I had shot with Donald Trump before, and although he'd seemed distracted, he was cooperative and easy to deal with. This time the story was a conceptual shot that required additional people in the picture, so I recruited friends of my wife's and mine to be our extras.
Now, with an audience, Trump came to life; he was charming and funny. Direct and a little bossy to be sure, but always in a relaxed and friendly way. In fact, it was the perfect dynamic — he had an audience to play to, but they were my people, so both his and my quips would get laughs.
Once we finished with the required setups, I brought out an 11x14-inch print from our previous shoot as a gift. He said, 'What is this?' I said, 'I'm giving you a print as a gift to buy an extra setup from you.' He shrugged and said, 'Okay,' and this is how I got the portrait that's in this book."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider