--- description: Marco Grob's latest book features years of portraits of celebrities, politicians and innovators title: Photographing Money, People and Politics image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2dc5bb9c33f4173/6988aa4dfb4eac683e88f7f7/money_people_politics_6_20-06-16_grant_edit_page_057-wp.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Photographing Money, People and Politics by [Bianca Silva](/author/bianca-silva/) ## Bianca Silva Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 29, 2016 11:30 AM CUT  Mr. T, Roodebloem Studios, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010 Mr. T, Roodebloem Studios, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010Marco Grob by [Bianca Silva](/author/bianca-silva/) ## Bianca Silva Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 29, 2016 11:30 AM CUT Whether it’s Hillary Clinton’s fearless leader stance, Steve Jobs’ subtle smile or Lady Gaga posing in a sparkling bra with cherry lips to match, there’s one question TIME contract photographer Marco Grob poses in his upcoming book _Money People Politics_. “Why do we have the face we have?” he tells TIME. “And what happened in our lives that we carry them the way we do? And what are the motives for people of power? Why do they want the power?” _Money, People, Politics_, Grob’s new book, features years of portraits of celebrities, politicians, innovators and social justice figures, many which have appeared in TIME. Grob’s portraits showcase aspects of his subject’s characteristics. The seemingly stiff Ted Cruz, for instance, displays signs of life in a portrait where his cowboy boots introduces the viewer to a more relaxed side of the politician. Grob uses simple lighting techniques, including hand-held lights, and his intuition to optimize the time he has with his subjects. “I really do three or four frames and I move on,” he says. _Money, People, Politics_ is, in a way, Grob’s magnum opus of his work since he left his native Switzerland more than a decade ago and veered away from his roots as a still-life photographer. “It was difficult,” he says of his decision to leave. “I consider it one of the most exciting and incredible times of my life, that’s for sure. Because I knew, even though it was difficult, I was on the way to what I really wanted to do.” Grob hopes _Money, People, Politics_ will allow people to take a glimpse inside his head. “It’s my view on the world,” he says. “I would like to take people along on that trip, on that crazy journey. And understand why I’m interested in human faces beyond genetics.” [**_Marco Grob_** ](http://www.marcogrob.com/work/detail/id/2308 "undefined")_is a portrait photographer based in New York City._ **_Kira Pollack_**_, who edited this photo essay, is TIME’s director of photography and visual enterprise._ **_Bianca Silva_** _is a writer and contributor to TIME LightBox. Follow her on_ [_Twitter_](https://twitter.com/binkstertweed "undefined")_._  Mini portraits of celebrities. Marco Grob  Jeff Bridges, The Carlyle Hotel, New York City, 2012 Marco Grob  Lady Gaga, Capital Hotel Suite, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2011 Marco Grob  Robert De Niro, Greenwich Hotel, New York City, 2015 Marco Grob  James Elroy (left), Studio, Brooklyn, New York City, 2015 Marco Grob  Jimmy Page plays the air guitar. Studio, London, United Kingdom, 2015 Marco Grob  Alice Cooper, SoHo House, Berlin, Germany, 2014 Marco Grob  Jerry Lewis, Comedian and Actor, Nashville, Tennessee, 2013 Marco Grob  Mr. T, Roodebloem Studios, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010 Marco Grob  Hillary Clinton, State Department, Washington D.C., 2011 Marco Grob  Ted Cruz, at his office, Houston, Texas, 2014 Marco Grob  The First Pitch: Interview with George W. Bush by Kira Pollack for TIME's "Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience" about the opening of the World Series Game 3 at the Yankee Stadium NYC on October 30th 2001\. At his office, Dallas, Texas, 2011 Marco Grob  Barkiaso Barchunia, Mursi Tribeswoman, Improvised studio, Omo Valley, Ethiopia, 2014 Marco Grob  Mundari Man, Cattle camp near Juba, South Sudan, 2013 Marco Grob  Robert Adelman (left), Civil Rights Movement photographer, Studiom New York City, 2013 Marco Grob  Stephen Hawking, Tenerfie, Spain, 2015 Marco Grob  Extravehicular Suit in which Alexey Leonov conducted first space walk in history. Moscow Space Museum, Moscow Russia, 2015 Marco Grob ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4525858/marco-grob-money-people-politics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4525858/marco-grob-money-people-politics/"},"headline":"Photographing Money, People and Politics","datePublished":"2016-11-29T11:30:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:39:41.797Z","description":"Marco Grob's latest book features years of portraits of celebrities, politicians and innovators","url":"https://time.com/4525858/marco-grob-money-people-politics/","keywords":["LightBox","Money","politics","photography","People","photobook","Marco Grob","portraiture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2dc5bb9c33f4173/6988aa4dfb4eac683e88f7f7/money_people_politics_6_20-06-16_grant_edit_page_057-wp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bianca Silva","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/bianca-silva/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2dc5bb9c33f4173/6988aa4dfb4eac683e88f7f7/money_people_politics_6_20-06-16_grant_edit_page_057-wp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"money_people_politics_6_20-06-16_grant_edit_page_057-wp","caption":"Mr. T, Roodebloem Studios, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010","creditText":"Marco Grob","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4525858/marco-grob-money-people-politics/","name":"Photographing Money, People and Politics"}}]}] ```