The Passion of Steven Colbert : “Shooting” the Martyr

Comedian, Steven Colbert, makes a stand for civil rights by imitating the famous Muhammad Ali Esquire cover with photographer Art Streiber and DigitalFusion.

Steven Colbert outdoes himself once again with his recent cover story for the August issue of Esquire Magazine.

“The Passion of Steven Colbert” or “I Am a Martyr (and So Can You!)”-A Guide to White Male Victimhood stays true to Colbert’s unique brand of humor. In his self-written article, Colbert addresses the rising issue of “white male oppression” in regards to the recent rise of power and support for once politically silent and oppressed women and African-Americans.

Colbert quotes that “Today’s Political Landscape is now dominated by Black Men (Barak Obama) and White Women (Hilary Clinton)” while also saying that White Male’s have been “completely marginalized”.

To match the satirical message of Colbert, photographer Art Streiber with support from DigitalFusion·Pro shot Colbert as a self declared martyr for the white race. Streiber achieved this by recreating scenes of Colbert being burned at the stake while happily smoking a cigar, and the cover, Colbert punctured with arrows while preoccupied in a phone call, a shot inspired by the famous 1968 Esquire cover “The Passion of Muhammad Ali”.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Esquire decided to recreate this legendary work which held a different type of political rights stand.

Esquire cover, April 1968

The epic cover originally followed the historic event in 1967 where Muhammad Ali was stripped of his World Heavyweight title for his refusal to comply with the Vietnam army draft. Although Ali did appear at his army induction date on April 28, 1967, he refused three times to step forward at the calling of his name, a felony offense. On the same day, The New York Athletic Commission suspended him, taking his title as well.

This historic act painted Ali as a political martyr not only for African-Americans but for all those opposed to the draft and the Vietnam War.

The image of a martyr punctured with arrows is itself a recreation of a fifteenth-century painting of Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of archers, athletes, and soldiers. It is also reminiscent of 115 Christian martyrs killed in the Roman Coliseum by arrows for their refusal to participate in religious acts during the time of a plague epidemic. Esquire did not want to have a 1 to 1 recreation of the original cover, so Colbert and Streiber were able to add their own creativity.

Behind the Scenes

Getting the Shot

“Working with Colbert was a blast,” Says Streiber “He had so many ideas, one of which was to grab the cell phone to show how unfazed he was about the arrows.”

When Esquire asked why he was so relaxed Colbert told Esquire that “Either, I’m tougher than Ali, holier than Sebastian, or too stupid to feel pain. Like a flatworm.”

Streiber had pitched a few recreation ideas for the anniversary issue, but Ali’s cover was selected most likely due it being chosen on All Things Considered in 2005 as the 3rd greatest magazine cover of the last 40 years.

“To be asked to pay homage to that revolutionary cover was an honor, I was psyched.” Says Streiber, “What was hard though was figuring out how I was going to remake this shoot and give it an updated look.”

One difference between the covers was how the arrows were actually shot. Ali’s arrows were held by wires. Colbert only had two arrows actually touching him; one was strapped to his chest with a belt, and another was held to his leg by an assistant. The rest were digitally added later at DigitalFusion.

“We shot a variety of arrows in multiple places just because we had to wait and see where David Curcurito at the Magazine wanted them.”

Thanks to DF Studio; Esquire, Streiber, and DigitalFusion were able to collaborate online to choose the exact pattern of arrows fitting for the magazine. DF Studio allowed Streiber to make extremely quick edits and transfers of every image from any location (with Internet access). A process that used to take up to two days can now be performed in two minutes.

This power and versatility offered by DF Studio allows for up to the minute collaboration between multiple parties to achieve their desired goal.

DF Studio is available free with every DF Pro rental pack or by subscription. For more information on DF Studio go to http://www.digitalfusion.net/studio

For more of Art Streiber' work, visit: artstreiber.com