John Isaac was maybe the most gentle and genuine man I have met since I joined MJVibe.
Back in 2014, I met John in London for an interview for Iconic Magazine (Issue 17) regarding his work with the King of Pop.
While the interview about Michael lasted around 45 minutes, we chatted for over 3 hours about our common love for big cats and Nelson Mandela.
We kept in touch ever since and it is breaking my heart to hear John has passed away on November 1, 2023.
Just few months prior, I contacted him to invite him for Kingvention 2023 but he told me he was in hospital recovering from a surgery. Just before Kingvention, I lost my dad and said my goodbyes on October 31 and life has been blurry after this, to the point I missed the fact John has passed away the day after my dad’s funeral.
John was an extremely talented photographer well known for his work at the United Nations but fans will know him for his amazing photos of Michael during the HIStory Era, especially the photos of Michael and Prince and the HIStory World Tour.
In 2012, John made it to a HIStory Tour Reunion with Stacy Walker, Rich & Tone Talauega, Cris Judd and Marion Koster. John has amazing memories from his time with Michael and he loved to talk about them to whoever asked.
My thoughts and love goes to his family and friends. You will be truly missed.
Here part of John’s interview for Iconic Magazine:
When did you speak with Michael for the first time?
…Meeting Michael, I received a phone call one day and the voice said: “Hi! Is this John?” I said “who is this?” and the voice said: “It’s Michael Jackson”. I said “get out of there mate!” and put the phone down, as I thought it was a prank call! Then the phone rang and it was Bob Jones, Michael’s Head of Communication and he told me Michael was upset that I put the phone down on him! Then I spoke to Michael who told me he wanted a signed poster of one of the pictures I’d done for UNICEF.
What was it like to be present at the HIStory Tour and rehearsals?
It was exciting! He loved what I did and once he said: “be my eyes and show me what I cannot see”. That was very touching. On the second concert, Michael was doing ‘Heal The World’ then grabbed my camera and took a picture of me and us both together as I always carry two cameras. It became part of the tour!
Which is your favourite picture of Michael you’ve taken?
There is a series with African kids. There’s a picture of Michael with all the kids around him and I think this is my favourite picture.
Are you ok to talk about the picture of Michael and Prince? Sure! There were paparazzi everywhere, helicopters… They knew the baby had been delivered. I was actually dressed as a doctor waiting to photograph them with my camera. He didn’t want any of my friends to know about this because of the deal he had with a magazine… One day we looked at a report on TV saying that no one knew who took the pictures of Michael and Prince and my wife and I were laughing because I had all the pictures in my closet!
