Do you see Mad Men’s Jon Hamm in this image? No? That’s because Chris Buck’s intriguing series, Presence, brings a kind of “Where’s Waldo?” approach to famous sitters. Renowned for his witty celebrity portraits in such magazines as GQ, Esquire and Newsweek, Toronto-born Buck initiated this project in 2006, often using spare moments during commissioned sessions to instruct subjects to conceal themselves in the environment so they are present, yet invisible. “In my celebrity photography I’m looking to make something different and a little surprising, working on parts of them that are not so well known,” says the Arnold Newman award recipient. “So in a way this project is taking that approach a couple of steps further—it’s still Robert de Niro, but it’s Robert de Niro without the interference of seeing him.” Prior to the opening of Presence at New York’s Foley Gallery on January 16, Buck takes us behind the scenes of his covert missions. 

Which of the people you photographed were the most game?
David Lynch stood out early on. Everyone I talked to needed me to say a few things about the project, because people get confused. With Lynch, I started to explain and he cut me off and said, “I get it,” then walked out and stepped into the shot perfectly. 

What is the impact of having the subject concealed in the shot, instead of just photographing the space itself?
It’s huge. Presence is really about what someone’s story brings to an image. If I show you a bunch of photographs and then tell you they were taken by Robert Frank, you can’t help but look at them through the prism of Robert Frankness. You have a context placed on it—one can’t help but be swayed by the name attached to it. 

Was there anyone you would have loved to have photographed, but couldn't?
There were a number of people I wrote letters to or who had sat for me who would not do it. I tried to contact Irving Penn—he was well known for not liking to be photographed and I thought he’d love this. But I got a polite note back from his studio. I wrote to George W. Bush and Stephen Sondheim. Ian McEwan, the British writer, said you’re welcome to come photograph me at my event and then frame the outside of where I am. I found it a bit odd when people said no. It takes 30 seconds and you’re not even visible—what’s there to say no to?