I am aware that most blog posts I write describe the subjects of my shoots in a glowing manner. Often I use such adjectives as ‘lovely’ and, ‘wonderful’…all of which must portray me to be sycophantic and over embellishing the truth. The reality is that most people I have photographed in the past couple of years HAVE been great! I honestly wouldn’t lie (probably just wouldn’t remark).
I address this issue because recently I had the fortune to photograph the actor James McAvoy and guess what, he was wonderful. And lovely. And lots of other nice adjectives my limited vocabulary can’t quite roll off the tongue in this moment.
In fact, this probably has to be my favourite shoot to date. The location was suprisingly great and fitting with the play he is promoting (Macbeth), James himself was well practised in being in front of a camera so would improvise on various set ups, emanating a playful charm. He even jumped off a ladder for me although thoughts of whether I would be liable should a Hollywood A List actor break his leg were racing through my brain…
Another thing I liked about James was his passion for the play. Watching him enthusiastically describe the brutality of Shakespearean combat by grabbing and miming the disembowelment of my unsuspecting assistant Yannick was a particular highlight. Although he was taken aback, I couldn’t help thinking most women would have loved to have been in his place at the moment.