Greeting us at the door Laurence is dressed impeccably in a purple suit complete with charming grin to welcome us in.
Ferrying us through into the living room, he is both friendly but businesslike. There is the impression that despite his utterings of there being plenty of time to take as long as we want, he is actually incredibly busy, but who can blame him as he is an entrepreneur with fingers in lots of decorative pies.
His living room is opulently adorned in dark wood panelling housing a floor to ceiling book case and secret door to a toilet. Gothic sculptures are dotted around and traces of lavish purple and red book covers and roses attract the eye. It takes a while to absorb everything, let alone make a decision on where to shoot.
Quite often a busy room can be too cluttered for a photograph. Laurence’s bold attire and characterful features swayed me to concentrate on getting some close ups using the complimentary tone of his fleur de lis wallpaper. As expected he is confident and a pro in front of the lens. A trait which is both comforting in the knowledge that you will get a decent shot, but occasionally can be devoid of real emotion. He was unfalteringly charming in his poses, yet my favourite images are those where I caught him off guard by announcing that my auntie fancies him with his new beard, a fact which I had discovered the day before whilst on the phone to her. Sometimes it’s the random things you might never say to someone ordinarily which help get the shots you want.