Jonathan Becker’s projection of a life

For a photographer whose camera has been mostly focused on capturing a glamorous world, Jonathan Becker’s concern has simultaneously wrestled with the stark realities of his subjects for 50 years. It’s evident when you flick through a copy of his new (and first) monograph, Lost Time, published by Phaidon, which features intimate glimpses of the most illustrious people and parties of the past half-century. His subjects are captured as they are, not as we think they are. “I always wanted to extract a form of truthful emotion,” Becker tells me as we settle in for a conversation. “When you look at the book, it reveals my sensibility. It seems like one piece. It shows who I am and that I always did exactly what I wanted.”