What camera and other tools did you use to shoot this photograph?
Canon A-1 50mm FD 1.8.
Did you collaborate with anyone?
Yes, I collaborated with the model, my friend Dave. The location was chosen by Dave based on a the theme of song he was releasing.
What do you like the most about this photograph and why?
I enjoyed the intimacy within this image, although it may seem very editorial, Dave and I have been friends for a little while now and to find these moments were your both so comfortable in each others presence it really powerful to me.
I personally enjoy the idea of posting portraits on Instagram, a platform that has become saturated with the portrait photograph and also deepened in context through the likes of account tagging and monetization, to simply give a name and no other context, to make someone wonder, or actively search deeper to find more.
Was there anything that you can consider an influence or source of inspiration to create this photo?
To create imagination in the fiction of someones photographic portrait.
Tell us something fun, interesting, weird or intense that happened at any point during the process of making this photo.
I guess walking around a grave yard to make images feel somewhat weird, to be surrounded by death. The bodies have all been moved however so it didn’t feel so intense.
For this photo, did you do something completely different to what you normally do for other photos?
This session wasn’t different to my past approach to portraiture at all, however it was the first session I had done in a long time due to Covid, so it was definitely a valuable time to find myself making photographs again.
Did you learn something during the process of shooting this photo?
Yes, that flexibility with your surroundings can often bring rewarding outcomes, even though you might not think it works, still try.
If you could have collaborated with anyone to shoot this photo, who would they be and why?
Jean-Michel Basquiat – I’ve had a copy of Ari Marcopoulos’ ‘AM” (Photographs from the Studio and the Street) for years and printed inside is a portrait of Jean-Michel on which he has then written all over using a gold paint pen, I’ve always wanted to replicated that over and entire series, so that’s who I’d pick.
Where and in which format would you like this photo to be exhibited?
I love looking at printed images, whether in books or hung, there’s something beautiful about the tangible print.
