Portrait: Sam & Andy
June 3, 2014In my first of a marathon 3 shoots in the space of as many days in the blazing hot sun, I drove into the middle of a field with some talented musicians to take photos of them. The musicians in question were Antipodean song meisters Sam & Andy, who I met last month whilst shooting a small music video in a studio in Southwark. They blasted out a cracking version of Jeff Buckley’s “Grace” (final video at the bottom of the post) and were great fun to watch, shoot and work with.
The field in question was in a little village called Chalfont, in Latimer to the West of London. Andy had played a wedding there a week before and gotten permission from the manager, Hugh, to come and shoot there. Driving straight into the middle of an expansive field is fairly liberating but also daunting when you realise that nearest living being are a bunch of (fairly sanguine) cows and the nearest building is quite a distance away. With highs of 23 degrees, and full on sun in the sky, the colours around were full on greens, yellows, and blue, it looked like the background from a Windows XP computer. I’m always intrigued with locations that carry significance for some and not for others; such wonderment that such a place of trees, cows and sky exists was met by a bemused “it’s just a field” from Hugh.
Keeping it a simple setup with me flashgun (when it was working) and reflector, we worked through different setups that felt natural and interesting with the occasional prop of Andy’s beautiful Gretsch Silver Falcoln guitar; playing on Sam & Andy’s chemistry, with our makeup artist Lilly keeping Sam’s fringe and Andy’s Chewbacca-esque bouffant in check. I loved the juxtaposition of wearing smart clothes in the many different locations in and around the field. Despite being in an expansive field, I sought to find little areas to frame the action around, like tracks, roads, fences, benches, trees, which goes back to my theory on Creativity needing restrictions to thrive better.
Here are some of my favourite shots with a special one at the end showing the perils of what happens when you abuse the sacred moment of the wrap photo!
HONOURABLE MENTIONS & SHAMELESS PLUGS
Sam & Andy Music. Lilly Hale Makeup
Here’s the music video we shot last month
Sam & Andy - “Grace” / Directed & Edited by James Card / Cinematography Daniel D. Moses