In a world of carefully curated celebrity images, a new memoir pulls back the curtain on the chaotic, champagne-soaked reality behind the lens. Famed American photographer Sante D'Orazio, in his newly published book A Shot in the Dark, recounts a particularly unforgettable evening in the year 2000 involving a completely nude and inebriated Pamela Anderson chasing him around the pool at the iconic Chateau Marmont.
The Night That Cost a Playboy Gig
D'Orazio, now 69, was photographing the Baywatch star for a Playboy cover story. As the shoot wrapped, an exuberant Anderson suggested they all go out for drinks. For D'Orazio, who had just completed a 30-day rehab stint for oxycontin addiction and was freshly sober, this was a nightmare scenario. He agreed on the condition his crew joined, sipping Diet Cokes while Anderson ordered pitchers of margaritas.
The party moved back to the Chateau Marmont, where, according to D'Orazio, the situation escalated. Anderson, 'sloshed' from the cocktails, stripped naked and 'plopped' into his lap. "Believe me, I'm palpitating, and not because of my desire," he recalled in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail. "It was my desire to get out of the situation and keep my sobriety."
Anderson then dashed to the pool and jumped in, begging D'Orazio to join her. After his repeated refusals, she emerged from the water and began chasing the photographer around the poolside – still entirely nude. "I'm thinking, who's going to believe this? Pam Anderson is naked, chasing me around the pool," D'Orazio said. He eventually managed to get her into a car and sent home.
The consequences were immediate. Anderson failed to show up for the second day of the shoot, blaming D'Orazio for getting her drunk. He was fired from the Playboy assignment, though he kept his fee and the photos, which sat unseen for five years.
From Archive Dust to Blockbuster Exhibition
The story, however, had a surprising second act. In 2005, gallerist Stellan Holm approached D'Orazio for a show. Upon seeing the Anderson images, he 'flipped out'. D'Orazio sought and received permission from Anderson, who by then was 58, to exhibit them. She even flew to New York for the opening of Pamela Anderson: American Icon.
"It was a blockbuster show," D'Orazio remembered. "People were lining up outside the gallery into the street." The publicity ultimately led Playboy to finally publish the pictures, years after the original chaotic shoot.
A Life Documented: Tigers, Supermodels, and Spontaneity
D'Orazio's memoir, compiled from decades of notes, spans more than just one wild night. It details a storied career photographing the biggest names of the 80s and 90s, from supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Kate Moss to music legends like Prince, who arrived early and alone for a shoot, stunning D'Orazio with his professionalism.
Other standout anecdotes include:
- A Terrifying Tiger: While photographing Mike Tyson in Las Vegas in 1996, D'Orazio was suddenly pounced on and licked by one of the boxer's white Bengal tigers. Tyson laughed it off, calling the beast "just a puppy, man," before wrestling it into a headlock for a now-iconic photo.
- Cake Fight at Cafe Tabac: D'Orazio recalls a 1993 night out with Naomi Campbell where an argument with columnist George Wayne led to thrown drinks, a jug of water dumped on Campbell's head, and a piece of cake hurled across the room. "Total madness," he said.
- 5am Shoot with Mickey Rourke: The actor called D'Orazio at dawn after a night of drinking, demanding an impromptu photoshoot in a deserted Little Italy. The spontaneous session, where they even swapped shirts, captured a raw, transformative side of Rourke that "actually frightened" the photographer.
Throughout the memoir, tales of lavish parties at bygone New York hotspots like the Bowery Bar are interwoven with intimate accounts of D'Orazio's struggles with heartbreak, depression, and addiction. He also reflects on his role as a protector for the young supermodels he befriended, often acting as a "fake boyfriend" to shield them from trouble in clubs.
"After 40 years, you've got some history there that you documented," D'Orazio said of his decision to write the book. For readers, it offers a uncensored, thrilling, and sometimes poignant passport to a now-vanished era of Hollywood glamour and chaos.
