Joe Lycett

Joe Lycett is not only a funny comedian, but he has a great ability to turn the aggressors into victims.  Many big companies, parking enforcement offices, fraudsters and even the government have been on the receiving end of Joe’s sharp wit and ability to turn the tables. His latest letter was a fake leak of the Sue Grey report - the report that is supposed to shed light on the many parties held by the government offices during Covid lockdown. So - to show how Joe turns the tide around and make the aggressors the victim, I chose to have him photograph me whilst I photograph him.  I found that to be a representation of the kind of humour that Joe is known for.  I also wanted to create a setup that hinted to the Sue Grey/Partygate incident.  I had an idea of writing letters on balloons and having them turn into an anagram of, for example “Downing Street Party”.  However, the anagrams for this and many other things I tried weren’t really relevant.  In Joe’s fake report leak he referred to ‘Downing Street’ as ‘Down It Street’ - and this became what I tried to show instead.  By taking the ‘ing’ off ‘Downing’, popping the ‘g’ and turning the ’N’ into a ’T’ - Joe had successfully turned ‘Downing’ into ‘Down it’.  And the street balloons remained.  

Lastly, I just wanted to create fun, interesting and colourful images that didn’t have any concepts connected to them.

Joe was brilliant!  Fun, down to earth, easy to talk to and followed and contributed to my instructions.


Shot for Observer Magazine

Munya Chawawa

The world of lockdown has seen the emergeance of comedians whom have actively used social media and online platforms.  Munya Chawawa is one of these comedians.  He’s best known for his portrayal of the posh rapper called “Unknown P” and the chef “Jonny Oliver”.  Now - Munya is not only online but also the star of TV programs such as “Complaints Welcome”.

As soon as Munya came to the shoot it was evident that music is of great importance to him.  He took over the Spotify playlist and started playing one tune after the other.  

A few set poses but also the freedom to move and jump created the images I wanted.  


Shot for Observer Magazine

Nish Kumar

The British have always been good at political comedy and political satire.  I remember being in the UK as a teenager and my granddad always watched Have I Got News For You - (a program that hasn’t changed in over 30 years and is still very good).  There have been many other programs finding the humour in the news and politics especially, and one of the current ones is the Mash Report with Nish Kumar.  Nish is known for Mash Report, but also his stand up comedy and other comedy performances often dealing with politics and news.  

So for this shoot with Nish I started thinking about what I could do to include a bit of humour and visually show that Nish deals with current events, news and politics in his humour.  I started thinking down the lines of using newspapers as props.  We all know the classic newspaper hats - but how about newspaper flowers, newspaper wigs, newspaper chairs and a newspaper cape?!  I spent an evening looking into how to make it all.  Emptied cupboards for tape and glue, found a good arts and crafts shop to get other bits and pieces, and lastly emptied my magazine stand for old newspapers.  

I had planned to have a boys drinks and catchup session with my friends from Norway over zoom.  Instead, I sat there, half chatting on zoom, whilst swearing over the newspaper roses for not doing what I wanted them to do.  I got there in the end, but instead of taking 30 minutes which I had at first thought would be the case, it took 5 hours. (Anyway - now I am an expert in case anyone is looking for someone to create newspaper props.)

Armed with my newspaper props I turned up at the south London studio to prepare the final things.  Nish turned up and we were ready to kick off.  Nice guy!  Just as you see him on TV.  We talked about his A-list friends whom I have worked with (James Acaster and Joel Dommet especially), the cricket club incident - (a live show at the cricket club where he was pelted with bread rolls - and they missed,) and his up and coming comedy show.  All to the backdrop of some slow dance country music.  

Shot for Observer Magazine

 
 

Russell Kane

If there’s a new energy drink company out there looking for a name for their product then I’d recommend ‘Russell Kane’.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with Russell on a couple of occasions and he never holds back.  It is evident in his stand up comedy as well, but the energy doesn’t stop on stage.  For this shoot we were going to create a cover for his book “Russell Kane, Son of a Silverback”.  Russell Kane’s book looks at what it is to be alpha male, gamma male (self-proclaimed), and the relationship between the two.  It’s a moving book filled with irony and plenty of laughs.  Serious and entertaining at the same time - as only Russell can do.  

(Note to London Zoo: Thanks for the loan of the Silverback.  We returned him to Sub-Saharan Africa.)

Shot for Transworld Publishers

 
 

Sara Pascoe

Who do you think of when I say very smart, funny and blond?  Yea - ok, Dolly Parton - but also Sara Pascoe.  She came to the shoot with her little dog, 4 different Batsheva dresses, some serious high healed shoes and earrings unlike any I have ever seen before.  No stylist needed! 

Sara was promoting her book “Sex Power Money” - so what better way to promote that visual idea than to photograph her in a Batsheva dress to suit a Gingham backdrop.  For the last outfit we had a more blue look and finished the outfit with a pair of earrings made out of dolls’ heads.  Genius!!!!  

This shoot of Sara for The Observer Magazine had the headline “I wanted to be prime minister” - and I can guarantee you that she would be a 100% better prime minister than other blondes I can think of. 

Shot for the Observer Magazine

Romesh Ranganathan

My shoot with Romesh Ranganathan was to support an extract from his book published in the Guardian Weekend Magazine. Having read a little snippet of the book it focused on how Romesh had been criticised for a lot of his comedy by pulling out the race card. He explains his reason for this, mainly that there are a lot of racists out there, and tells of several of episodes where he has experienced blatant racism. So, we wanted to do a shoot with Romesh, not just pulling out comedy poses, but we wanted to bring in cultural references and the address the issue that Romesh feels people are trying to sensor his comedy as it may be uncomfortable listening.

The issue of censorship was the first one we tried to cover. Tape over the mouth and then some over the rest of his face should be a good illustration of this. I had purchased 3 different types. The last thing I wanted to do was to leave Romesh with a ‘waxed’ strip of beard, above and below the lips. Not only would this maybe look a little odd, but Romesh was also on the way to watch another comedian at the Hammersmith Apollo, and we though it would be rude if he stole the show with a new beard style. So, I volunteered. (If you wouldn’t do it to yourself then don’t do it to others.). I placed the gaffe tape over my beard and mouth, felt the sweat drip as I imagined the pain that was to come, and ripped off the tape. Phew!!! It only served as a beard trim, pulling out 3 hairs only. It was safe, Romesh had witnessed the procedure and felt at ease with the idea.

The shoot commenced, and as usual I try to strike up a conversation with my subject to make them feel at ease and to make the shoot a little more amicable. However, after a few minutes, a few questions asked, I was struck by how rude Romesh was not to answer any of my questions. He looks at me, wide desperately questioning eyes… then it struck me that it is difficult to answer when your mouth has been gaffa'd up.

When the tape was removed and we could commence (beard still in place), Romesh was chilled and fun to deal with. Apart from some straight shots I also wanted to include a 6x9 meter Union Jack flag, (made by my wife Gemma btw) and try to see if we could create a Union Jack turban that Romesh could wear. The latter would allow us to show the cultural integration of his Hindu heritage with his British upbringing. The iconic Union Jack draped around Romesh would also give him an iconic status as a British comedian and therefor contradict any racist comments he has previously received about him not being British.

As we put the large flag away and were to focus on the turban, I handed Romesh the 3 meter long union jack material. He held it for a few seconds before I realised that something wasn’t right. I then told him just to tie the turban on and we’d see if it worked. He looked at me questioning and said “I don’t know how to tie a turban…”. I realised that I had maybe been presumptuous. I had seen him wearing a turban for a TV show once, but it was of course someone else whom had tied it for him. I took out youtube, thinking I was smart. We followed the instructions, but either the problem was that the polyester material doesn’t fold as well as good quality cotton, or it is actually quite hard to tie a good turban. I felt like I was a part of some sit-com and I was the fool, so I soon gave up and called it a day.

Shot for The Guardian Weekend Magazine