'Melania is interesting. Very vulnerable, always has been'

There aren’t many celebrities that Jonathan Becker hasn’t photographed and there’s a story behind them all. He tells Zoé Beaty about the pick of his five decades behind the lens

- Zoe Beaty

Jonathan Becker has a story to tell. In fact, he’s got quite a few – so many that, occasionally, it’s hard to keep up. Currently, we’re talking particularly about his relationship with the Trumps, a long affair documented by a catalogue of some 21 photographs in Becker’s portfolio. There’s a specific portrait he wants to talk about: Melania, dressed in a glaringly purple dress, standing next to her ominous reflection in the window beside her. To her left is a panoramic view over New York City, from the top of Trump Tower. On her right, the garish gold apartment inside. “And she’s in the corner,” says Becker. “Between a rock and a hard place.”

Back then, in 2005, Trump was just a character around town, and Melania was a socialite being photographed by Becker for Tatler. It’s a time warp of sorts – twenty years later, their story has contorted to the point that these photos (almost) feel naive in some way. But underneath the glossy finish, he tells me that he doubts much has changed about the people they really are.

“I got to know Melania quite well,” says Becker. “She’s very quiet, she’s discreet, but she has flamboyant tastes.” In the photo, taken for Tatler, her hands are up, arms guarding her chest. She looks quite vulnerable, I say. Becker’s reply is immediate: “She is vulnerable,” he says certainly. “She’s very vulnerable. Always has been.”

He adds. “Melania’s an interesting creature. She doesn’t do what she’s told.”

Becker has a backstory for every photograph that is printed in a new coffee table book of his life’s work, Jonathan Becker: Lost Time, each one as compelling as the next. The retrospective, a beautifully bound collection of 200 images spanning five decades of Becker’s spent in New York, London, Paris and Buenos Aires, contains some of the best portraits ever taken.