The Day Method Man Turned His Eyeball Inside Out
Even at the moment he pressed the shutter, photographer Eddie Otchere understood he had captured something extraordinary. "I knew that this photo was big," Otchere recalls of his now-iconic image of Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man performing a bizarre visual trick during the group's first visit to London in 1994.
A Chance Encounter with Hip-Hop Legends
Otchere's journey to that fateful moment began during his second year at university, when he learned Wu-Tang Clan would be visiting their record label office in Putney. As a devoted fan, he immediately traveled to the location, where he discovered the group's coach parked outside. "I could hear them arguing and being rabble-rousers," Otchere remembers. "As soon as I came around the corner, I started photographing them on the street."
The photographer's breakthrough came when he noticed Popa Wu traveling with the group. Recognizing the older man's mentorship role, Otchere mustered the courage to ask if he could join them on the coach. "It was one of those moments when I realized that if you don't dare, you don't win," he explains. To his surprise and delight, Popa Wu granted permission.
Wu-Tang's First International Adventure
This marked Wu-Tang Clan's inaugural trip outside the United States, presenting Otchere with a unique opportunity to document these "wild, urban kids from New York" in unfamiliar territory. On the coach, the group listened exclusively to deep soul music from Stax Records - the only mixtape they could collectively agree upon. "It was way beyond the sort of soul I knew," Otchere notes. "That music has always stayed with me."
The journey included a stop at Earl's Court for passport photos, where Otchere captured Method Man buying milk from a newsagent with an elderly woman queuing behind him. The group then proceeded to Kentish Town Forum for their evening performance.
The Moment of Magic
After parking the coach, the Wu-Tang members began "mucking around" on a scrubby patch of land near railway tracks, throwing stones at passing trains. Otchere captured several shots of their antics before Method Man turned to him and announced, "Watch this, let me show my new trick."
The rapper placed his cap strap over his eye, pulled it back, and made a face that appeared to turn his eyeball inside out. "It was at that point I knew I had something," Otchere emphasizes. The moment proved fleeting - Method Man immediately moved on, never returning to the shoot.
Superheroes in the Making
Method Man's departure didn't end the photographic opportunities. Masta Killa responded by attempting to climb a building "like Spider-Man," prompting Ghostface Killah to declare he could perform the feat better. "They were like comic-book characters," Otchere observes. "It was like being with the X-Men."
This experience inspired Otchere to pursue what he calls "completist" photography. "I thought: 'I want to get the headshots of all of Wu-Tang Clan,'" he explains. With RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard absent that day, this mission would ultimately take ten years to accomplish.
The Philosophy Behind the Frame
Reflecting on the Method Man photograph, Otchere believes its power extends beyond the compelling subject matter. "The whole thing came together so well," he muses, questioning whether color photography would have achieved the same impact. The image taught him a fundamental lesson about his craft.
"It made me realize that I could be a part of the culture by just documenting it, not shooting to try to create iconic portraits," Otchere states. "Although you want to create a singular portrait that says everything, it's really documentary at its core. For me, it's about documenting a movement at a certain point in time, and not having the consciousness of what I'm doing. Just doing it in the moment for pure passion."
From Praktica to Professional
Otchere's photographic journey began at age fifteen when he and a friend discovered a Praktica camera left behind by the friend's deceased grandfather. "I quickly caught the bug," he recalls. His dedication to the medium has yielded not only iconic images but also personal wisdom he summarizes in what he calls his "top tips":
- You're only as good as the camera you've got
- The medium is the message
- Change your camera, change your style
- The harder you work, the luckier you get
- Shoot first, ask questions later
- Make prints - an archive in a cloud will evaporate
Eddie Otchere's photography, including his iconic Wu-Tang Clan images, features in "The Music Is Black: A British Story" exhibition opening at V&A East in London on April 18th. The Method Man photograph stands as testament to a spontaneous moment that captured both a bizarre trick and the essence of hip-hop culture in transition.
