Just over 2 years ago I got a call from a man who called himself Gavin Ambani. He said that he was a big fan of Honey and Smoke, and the founders and main chefs, Itamar and Sarit had recommended me as a photographer. He claimed to be a part of the wealthy and influential Indian Ambani family and was looking for a photographer to take some portraits of himself, in a few selected restaurants and with a few selected chefs. He was the man behind the instagram page ‘Purebytes’ and was making himself out to be an influencer in the British and American food industry.
His initial email didn’t make much sense to me. He wanted to commission me to have some pictures on his instagram page? I said that it was not a job for me, but he suggested to come to near my studio, and buy me a coffee to discuss this further. I agreed. He said he wanted to have several of portraits and I could just name my price.
I therefore gave him a quote that would make it worth my while. He immediately agreed and we kicked off with two shoots with only a couple of days between them. One was done at Honey and Smoke and the other one at Xu Teahouse and Restaurant in Soho, London. Gavin arranged for the shoots to take place and I came up with the concepts of the shoots after having been given a few key points that he wanted to come across. The first shoot at Honey and Smoke was to show how they are a symbol of breaking down cultural barriers. Gavin wanted to be a part of this as he said he felt that the Honey and Smoke team were like a family to him. (I have recently realised that this was a feeling that was not reciprocated). I came up with the idea of having a large table and people breaking bread. The large table was to represent religions and culture, and the bread was to represent the breaking down of barriers and making peace. To make it playful and give a sign of family, I thought of the idea of pouring flour and water on Gavin.
The second shoot was meant to deal with the issue that Gavin is gay and was bullied when he was young. He said that tea was what gave him comfort when he returned home from school. His mum would always serve him a cup of tea and make him feel at ease. He also said that the instagram posts and success was a way for him to gain his parents recognition: a way for them to become proud of what he has achieved. I therefore suggested rainbow coloured tea streams to be poured into his cup, creating the colourful symbolism of being gay. Another shot I did was him floating mid air with a cup of tea, making the tea into something that allows him to escape the real world and find comfort.
Time and effort was put into these shoots. I also had expenses. “Gavin” also tried to commission me for a 3rd shoot, but after discussing the ideas for this third shoot, I said I needed to get paid for what I had already done first. This started a process of him stalling and delaying payment. He talked of, and sent emails from his “aunt” based in California. He promised several of times to pay me but never did. The excuses boarded on ridicules. I had my suspicions then that Gavin Ambani might not be who he said he was. One part of me thought that his name might not be Gavin Ambani, and he was not a part of the Indian Ambani family that he had claimed to be. I google searched Gavin Ambani, and although there were many images of the Ambani family, “Gavin Ambani” was never present. I called Itamar at Honey and Smoke once to ask if he was able to get his name from the bank card he pays with when going there to eat. But I was told that this was not possible. When I explained to Itamar why I asked, Itamar was furious with “Gavin”. Itamar, (without me asking him to) contacted Gavin and asked him to pay me. (Gavin said - although this may be completely untrue - that Itamar had called him a lot and shouted at him to pay.) “Gavin” was then furious with me for breaching a ‘confidentiality agreement’ that should supposedly have been between him and me. (Anyone who knows me knows that I keep any bad experiences of shoots to myself at all times, even without an agreement in place.) He said he was close to committing suicide due to this experience, blaming me. I had lost my patience with Gavin and had to leave it all for a while as it was making my blood boil.
I started to think of reporting him, but soon figured that any law enforcement would just brush this off as insignificant and ask me to go to small claims court. I considered taking him to small claims court, but having done this before I knew that this could be expensive and would be stressful. In return, if his name was not Gavin Ambani, he could just slip away and I would end up with more frustration and expenses. 10 months after he commissioned me I then contacted him again with a last desperate attempt to get my money. I said I was in touch with a journalist and we were going to write an article about my experience of dealing with him. The images I had taken of him would serve as supporting images. He then asked me to give him 3 weeks to get the money together. I never heard back from him again.
I never received any money from him. I left it, and considered it to be a loss of income and expenses. But in October 2020 I get a call from an American journalist called Josh Dean. Together with another journalist, Vanessa, they have created a podcast called “Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen”. The podcast is now a 10 part series uncovering a con artist who has conned people in the Hollywood film industry since 2011. It is revealed that this con artist has managed to make people believe that he is a multiple of characters; woman, man, American, English, Indian, Indonesian, Chinese and the list goes on. He has been a film producer, production assistant, screen writer, actor, director and more. As Josh and Vanessa slowly expose this character, it becomes clear that he has also been an influencer in the UK, fooling people in the hotel and restaurant industry. I was contacted as they told me that this man was the man I knew as Gavin Ambani, and they wanted to hear my experience of dealing with him in order to help expose him.
The investigative journalism of Josh and Vanessa makes an incredibly good listen and I recommend you all to check it out. This has also made it into a big story in Vanity Fair where my images of Gavin Ambani, a.k.a Hargobind Tahliramani were used. He is now arrested in teh UK and awaiting extradition to the FBI in USA.
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/11/how-we-unmasked-the-hollywood-con-queen-suspect
Published in Vanity Fair
