Liza Minnelli at The Dorchester in London, 1989

In 1989, photographer Kevin Cummins was assigned by the New Musical Express to photograph Liza Minnelli in her room at London’s Dorchester hotel. Cummins had been onstage with the Sex Pistols and taken image-defining shots of Joy Division, but his tastes had always been broader than what Britain’s alternative music scene could offer: he was a huge Liza Minnelli fan. 

Cummins was the final photographer of several to visit Minnelli that day. Guessing she’d be tired and that he wouldn’t get much time, he took as an ice-breaker his original vinyl copy of the Cabaret soundtrack. 

“We hit it off immediately,” Cummins remembers. “When I told her we’d use the fading light from the window to illuminate the shot, she was relieved; the previous visitors had brought big lights and a crowd of people who only got in the way. I stood on a table in front of her and she just looked at me through the lens, exactly as I’d envisioned. I shot it with the lens wide open, to get a shallow depth of field so the focus was very much on her eyes.”

Liza seemed surprised when the shoot ended so soon, and asked Cummins to stay for a cup of tea and a chat. The photographer was already on his way out the door when she reminded him of the Cabaret soundtrack under his arm, and asked him if he’d like it signed.