How they came to be

Every photographer has a story about the one that got away. For Steve Schapiro, it was Pavarotti’s stomach.

The photographer, whose work has appeared on the cover of Life, Time and many other magazines, had been assigned to capture Luciano Pavarotti as he was starring in the 1982 film “Yes, Giorgio.” The opera star took off his shirt to change into a tuxedo for the shoot. And that stomach was revealed in all its corpulent glory.

Schapiro’s voice grows wistful as he remembers it, even now.

“Here he was, in my living room. That stomach. The rumples of fat. That stomach was so photographable. And of course you could never do it.”

Recognizing such unwritten boundaries over a career spanning 50 years has helped Schapiro gain access to Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Barbra Streisand and Andy Warhol and has led to engaging images recognized the world over. A selection of these black-and-white photos -- including some never published before -- has been collected in a new book, “Schapiro’s Heroes.” (The title is a nod to photographer lingo: A “hero” is the shot good enough to land on a magazine’s cover.) Some are on display at the Fahey/Klein Gallery on North La Brea Avenue along with a second collection of his photographs titled “Signs of the Times.” The exhibit runs through May 10.

Schapiro, 73, is working on a book of photographs he took during the filming of “The Godfather.” Here, he discusses photos from the exhibition and what makes them work.