Most of my shoots are fairly rapid encounters which, although great for getting an adrenaline buzz, often mean I don’t get much chance to chat and get to know the person I’m photographing. I technically don’t get paid to chat of course, a statement which harks back to my Burger King days (don’t judge me, I was in school and needed money to buy stuff at Topshop) where my boss habitually told me off for talking too much to both customers and other staff.
However I was gifted a marvellous shoot recently to do some press shots for Floating Points (real name Sam Shepherd) to promote his single release and forthcoming album Elaenia which will hit the shelves on 6th November. The brief of the shoot was pretty much to hang out in London and get some natural, relaxed shots of Sam, which meant that I had bags of time to pester him with questions about his music, donut preferences, penchant for Folk clothing and of course his PHD in neuroscience, which was particularly fascinating.
Sam is one of a clan of super smart and prolific electronic musicians on the scene right now, a set which includes his friends and frequent collaborators Four Tet and Caribou (whom I photographed for Stool Pigeon ages ago). Science and Maths has never been cooler thanks to these guys.
It was such a compelling, fun shoot that culminated in a shared St Johns bread pudding and ice cream. What better way to spend a day?