www.silverguide.site –

I got into photography when I was about 15. My mate’s grandad died and he left behind a Praktica camera that we played with. I quickly caught the bug. In 1994, during my second year of university, I was a huge fan of Wu-Tang Clan and one day, I heard that they were going to their record label office in Putney, London. So I went along, too. I saw a coach outside and I could soon hear them, arguing and being rabble-rousers. As soon I came around the corner, I started photographing them on the street. They were giving me such energy but what really made it come together was the fact that Popa Wu was travelling with them. He was older and something of a mentor to them. It was one of those moments when I realised that if you don’t dare, you don’t win – so I asked him if I could get on the coach and travel with them and shoot them. And he let me.

This was Wu-Tang Clan’s first time out of the US. They were these wild, urban kids from New York who had a genius talent for storytelling. On the coach, they were listening to some really deep soul music – Stax Records stuff. It was the only mixtape they could all agree on. It was way beyond the sort of soul I knew. That music has always stayed with me.

We stopped at Earl’s Court in west London because they needed passport photos for their visas. I took pictures of them there including a lovely shot of Method Man buying milk from a newsagent with a nan behind him in the queue. Then we were back on the coach and up to Kentish Town Forum where they were playing that evening. The coach parked up, we get off, and everyone starts mucking around. There was this scrubby bit of land and some railway tracks and they started picking up stones and throwing them at passing trains. So, I pulled off a couple of shots there. Then Method Man turned around and went: “Watch this, let me show my new trick.” And he puts his cap strap over his eye, pulls it back and makes the face. It was at that point I knew I had something. Then that was it. He was off – never to come back into the shoot again. But then Masta Killa said: “Let me show you what I can do.” And he starts doing this Spider-Man thing, climbing up the building. Ghostface Killah sees him do that and is like: “No, no, I can do it better.” They were like comic-book characters; it was like being with the X-Men.

It was one of those moments in my life where I felt the energy of what it’s like to be a completist. I thought: “I want to get the headshots of all of Wu-Tang Clan.” That was my dream – because I didn’t get everybody on that day – RZA and the Ol’ Dirty Bastard weren’t there. I knew I had to capture those nine characters as best as I could, with their personalities being reflections of superheroes. That is where it started when I was 19 and it took 10 years to complete that mission.

Even at the time, I knew that this photo was big. It wasn’t just that the subject was great. It was that the whole thing came together so well. I don’t know if the same shot would have worked in colour. It was just one of those moments. It made me realise that I could be a part of the culture by just documenting it, not shooting to try to create iconic portraits. 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.

Eddie Otchere’s CV

Born: London, 1974.
High point: Sault.
Top tip: You’re only as good as the camera you’ve got. The medium is the message. Change your camera, change your style. Jesus loves you, but Mary loves you more. Wisdom cries in the street, go seek her out. The harder you work, the luckier you get. Shoot first, ask questions later. Time is the master. Jah no dead. Know thyself and accept yourself for the awkward mess that you are. Make prints – an archive in a cloud will evaporate. Keep it real.

• Eddie Otchere’s photography is part of The Music Is Black: A British Story opening at V&A East, London, on 18 April.