Remember DMX’s Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood album cover? Guess who was responsible for making DMX lay in a tub full of blood?

In our Breaking Records issue, we showed you how the man behind the lens and the iconic hiphop images, Jonathan Mannion, worked his magic. Now, we give you more of his interview. For the full story, grab a copy of our June-July issue!-SEREENA

What’s your dream photoshoot as of 2010?

“It remains [to be] a photograph of Tupac, but that will certainly be a challenge. He was an artist that I respected greatly and felt like the photos created would have been on a different level of creativity. He would have risen to the challenge of anything that I wanted to do because he was a creative soul. I would love to photograph Sade. She is a legend to me and musically so gifted. Jordan and Ali are on my list as well for obvious reasons. I want to photograph the living legends in whatever shape that takes. A job with someone who wants to make something incredible with me is my dream photoshoot.”

You once said in an interview that you love taking photos more than you do making videos. Why is that?

“I like photos because it’s more intimate, or has the potential to be. There is also not the separation of vision that video has. I’ll explain… In photograpy, it can be you a camera and the subject, very personal, immediate, spontaneous whereas in video there are so many levels of disconnect that it becomes a different art. It is more the art of selecting your vision that a team of other people create, ie the DP, Editor, Lighting specialist, Gaffer, Colortist, etc… that’s 5 levels away from what is truly in your head. I enjoy the immediacy and spontaneity of photography. It’s my first love. I will however continue to challenge myself to really find a great way of working within the medium of video & film as I know I will make a significant contribution there as well.”

You’ve shot a lot of athletes over the years, and you once said that you played soccer and tennis. What is it about sports that captivates you? Which athletes have been your favorite subjects so far?

“I have played football / soccer and tennis all my life. I grew up with it in the blood as much of my family is in England on my mother’s side. I would be glued to the Man U games as a youth. I always found sports to be freedom from the day to day grind. It was the only time that all I was concerned with was putting the ball in the net. I was a good player ever since I was little and still play to this day. Tennis is a thinking man’s game and I like the strategy and psychology of the game. And you can play tennis throughout life. I found golf too slow, so this was a nice alternative and I was a fan of the sport Agassi, Borg, McEnroe, Wilander, Chang, etc…

The athletes have something special because there is nothing made up, you have the skill to play at the highest level or you don’t. It can’t be faked. I love the raw talent and the dedication of the great athletes. It inspires me to be the best I can be at my craft. From the list of the people that I’ve photographed, I’m most impressed with Lance Armstrong, Magic Johnson, Agassi, Landon Donovan, Kevin Garnett, Kobe and LeBron. Just bad ass all of them!!”

Interview by Toff de Venecia, photo by Crown The South