Glen Craig’s photography portfolio on Miles Davis was a part of the Leica Galerie at photokina 2014. The exhibition now moves to Leica Gallery Los Angeles where an opening reception will be held on April 16 and will run through May 11. Here is an excerpt from an interview where Glen discusses his personal insights into Miles Davis’ private life, and what it was like working with the jazz master himself.

Q: One of the most amazing pictures in this entire portfolio is a picture of Miles Davis where he’s facing the camera, but he’s looking off. … The composition, the technical quality, and the image that it conveys of his thoughtfulness, his introspection, and his seriousness – it literally reveals his genius in a totally visual modality, which is extraordinary. How did you come to shoot this incredible image and can you provide any technical data to tell us about the lighting or anything else?

A: That was one day after practicing. He came up from the basement where he had a rehearsal studio. That was taken in the backyard of the house on 77th street, so that was the backyard. We were chilling and relaxing. He was the kind of person who spoke a mile a minute in thought. In that time, he had embraced me. How he embraced you was by putting his hand around you and giving you a left jab into your stomach. That’s how you knew you were okay. Up until then, you don’t know. So we were just talking and, by that time, he was comfortable with me shooting him and I just brought up the camera. So, for one, that lighting, is mother nature, and that was done with Adox film. That was done with a 35 mm Summicron.

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