‘He really got into it’ … Marilyn Manson, in a shot taken
for the cover of his album Mechanical Animals, 1998. 
Photo by Joseph Cultice

My best shot

Photography

Joseph Cultice’s best photograph: Marilyn Manson with prosthetic breasts

‘I wanted to make Manson look beautiful. But people found this image haunting and grotesque’

Interview by Henry Yates
Wed 16 Sep 2020 16.29 BST

In the late 90s, Marilyn Manson was the new rock star in Los Angeles. I’d already gone on the road with him and shot a few covers, including the Smells Like Children EP, and done the press shots for his album Antichrist Superstar. So I felt like I’d earned the album cover of Mechanical Animals.