maximios

I was always admired the mystique created by Ian Hunter always wearing shades much like the fabulous Jeff Lyne of ELO, it is his ‘look’. Shades are  part of rock and roll imagery that Dylan used and in my opinion Bono has never quite pulled off (sorry Bono).  

Zandra is a major talent as well as being a very bright, approachable and affable lady. The Fashion and Textile Museum (London) are currently exhibiting Zandra Rhodes: Fifty Years of Fabulous from now until the end of January 2020. I recommend you go along and see the gowns in real life, I say this unreservedly the gowns are works of art.

The assistant came back out and said in a shocked tone “He’s sticking them on Roys face!”  I said “Really, not pinning them into his skin surely”. He said “I don’t know”

Early on in my career at Vogue I was delighted when British Vogue asked me to photograph the legendary Jean Shrimpton, she had been photographed by one of my favourite photographers, Richard Avedon for American Vogue. I could never recall seeing pictures of her laughing so I was hoping that it would be a fun shoot and it turned out to be great.

She was the ultimate professional, usually I would have to direct the model in some way, but Jean had a natural intuitive, elegance, so my intervention was hardly needed, after the first shot I said jokingly, “You’ve done this before Jean” and we both laughed, and that started the fun and joy of the shoot.

Jean first come to prominence in the 60s, just as I was finishing art college and she was very famous indeed then. Jean is a truly classic model and all the supermodels that followed her today like Christie Turlington, Donna Mitchell, Linda Evangelista they all followed in her footsteps and today its hard to really comprehend how incredibly famous Jean was at the time.

When she walked into the studio and I first met her she was, as I expected, exquisitely Jean Shrimpton. She laughed over her coffee and as she disappeared into the dressing room I said that is the spirit I want to capture. She was funny, bright, intelligent and so easy to work with. The shoot sped by she made it, so easy! I love these images of her laughing and in the men’s trouser suit,  where her femininity still shone through, later when it was finished I said,  “It would be great to photograph you again”, “That would be fab” she said, which I did some time later for Vogue.  I was pleased with these images of Jean, except for the one Vogue used for the cover which was not the one I would have chosen (but that was often the case). The one shown here would have been my choice, the expression is softer.  Later Vogue set up another shoot with Jean and my muse Anne Schaufuss, which were really complex double exposures, which I will share at a later date.

Some years later heard Jean had opened a boutique hotel in Penzance Cornwall.  I stayed there with my American wife for a long weekend. The hotel amazing and very beautifully decorated, like a little country house and it was fantastic to catch up with Jean whose talent as a model cannot ever be over stated and she turned out to be great hotelier too.

• Clive Arrowsmith is shooting stunning images, staging exhibitions and is as passionate about photography as he was when he first pressed the shutter at The Paris Collections. He is available for global media opportunities related to his work and photography generally. SEE OUR  *Kickstarter Campaign for LIMITED EDITION PETER GABRIEL REFLECTIONS EXHIBITION CATALOGUE – HERE – Bespoke prints from Clive’s archive are also available by special request, for any enquiries  (email Eugenie here). Clive’s book Arrowsmith: Fashion, Beauty & Portraits is available hereand Lowry at Home: Salford 1966 is available here

I kept saying “Yes, Arthur in a moment, can’t you see I’m trying to interview one of the greatest guitarists in the world”. I thought a faint smile drifted across Ry’s face but I think that was wishful thinking. Eventually Arthur could contain himself no longer and he said within earshot of Ry ” Mr Arrow you have toilet paper stuck on your forehead”.

He had the most extraordinary way of playing the guitar using open tuning with his thumb over the top of the fretboard.  The guitar almost became a part of him

Eventually as the V8  sounds faded my shouts were heard and he looked up from under the bonnet, his hands covered in oil and his face smeared too and said “Oh, Hi Clive, my manager said you’d be coming down”

My assistant set up the lights and I wanted it lit in such a way that his head and hands where the only thing that was illuminated with the rest of his body in darkness. Once we’d set up the lights I noticed he had very shiny patent shoes which I also lit from the side to add some dynamic light to the pictures. The idea was to get the maestro and his piano to merge as one.

Chiswick Mall runs along the side of the river Thames (the river that winds its way through the City of … More

I myself was in a highly nervous state, because it had taken so much time to produce the Polaroid test. Peeling back the Polaroid with Paul, Linda and the band peeking over my shoulder was extremely nerve wracking and it’s fair to say I was three steps away from needing the toilet.

French Vogue asked me to go and do a beauty shoot in Paris. I was married at the time and … More

David walked onto the studio back drop, I didn’t say a word and he just started looking over his shoulder and slowly revolving, going through a series of movements and I just kept on shooting. I didn’t want to miss a thing.

I didn’t know what to expect when I was booked to work with Canned Heat. They had a pretty Rock … More

My assistants placed the improvised cross on my shoulders and helped me down from the top studio down to Beatrice Millers office, where she was conducting a meeting with a dignitary from the National Portrait gallery. Spurred on by tequila I burst into the office, one foot in the bucket of pink yoghurt, which splashed across the newly carpeted floor;

I shot these images of the late great Robert Palmer for Elle Magazine (London). He was such an elegant man and arrived dressed in a beautiful blue silk suit, he was incredibly well turned out for a rock star. In my opinion, he was one of the best singers of his generation and greatly under rated. I’d been very aware of him as a singer and producer since his early days in Vinegar Joe  with  Elkie Brooks. We were instantly at ease with each other, exchanging stories about music and I mentioned to him I’d been in the studio song writing with Boz Scaggs and he said “I didn’t know you did music, I thought you were just a great photographer, I love Boz he has a wonderful voice and is the real deal”.

I then asked him what he thought was the weirdest thing about the current music industry? He screwed up his face for a moment in silent contemplation then opened his eyes, looked at me and shaking his head slowly said,  “That U2 ever had a hit”. We both burst our laughing. It was the early 90s so U2 were everywhere at that time so it was gently funny because they had reached the point of being inescapable.

I mentioned that I really enjoyed the video’s he’d done with my dear friend photographer Terence Donovan and he said that ‘Yeah, they were great fun, but I had no idea what he was going to do, I just trusted him”. Terry was from the generation of Vogue photographers before me, whose work I had enjoyed as an art student. I’d met Terry once I started to be more successful at Holborn Studios and was enormously flattered when he said he would like to own some of my prints.  He really liked the images I shot of the actress Sophie Ward. It was so sad to loose him when we  did because he had such a strong and imposing physical presence and was very encouraging to me. I was driving to have some Japanese Sunday lunch with my son Paris and my girlfriend and a reporter rang me. I pulled over to answer the phone and the reporter said, “I think you should know that your friend Terence Donavan has just died”. It was a shocking way to hear the news as I’d been with him the week before and he was dear to me. Robert was also a great talent gone far too soon.

Robert was so natural in front of the camera that I got these images of him really easily. During a break in shooting while my assistants were changing the set up he said, “Clive you know the fashion world, I need to buy a couple of long warm cashmere shawls, very large that would wrap around me.”  I knew exactly where to take him so I called, Shi Cashmere who I’d just shot a campaign for and I took him to their London shop. When we got to their beautiful showroom Shi was delighted to meet Robert. Robert fell in love with their incredible collection of massive heavy cashmere shawls and bought three of them. He looked really fantastic in them and we all had a great time together. I asked Robert why he wanted to have so many large heavy shawls and he said he’d just moved to Switzerland and needed them for when he went outside to enjoy the scenery as it was absolutely freezing.

It was such a great experience meeting and shooting Robert I am only sad that I never got to work with him again. He was such a gifted vocalist with a really strong personal style, a true one off; he passed away in Paris in 2003.  This was a sad loss of a great artist who I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with.

• Clive Arrowsmith is shooting stunning images, staging exhibitions and is as passionate about photography as he was when he first pressed the shutter at The Paris Collections. He is available for global media opportunities related to his work and photography generally. SEE OUR  *Kickstarter Campaign for LIMITED EDITION PETER GABRIEL REFLECTIONS EXHIBITION CATALOGUE – HERE – Bespoke prints from Clive’s archive are also available by special request, for any enquiries  (email Eugenie here). Clive’s book Arrowsmith: Fashion, Beauty & Portraits is available hereand Lowry at Home: Salford 1966 is available here

I first met the Spaghetti people the divine Nadia and Suomi La Valle in 1979, at that moment I was propped up by a lamppost outside Vogue House in Hanover Square, after over indulging at a champagne reception. I was trying to get a cab and failing. That was in the days when I still imbibed tobacco and alcohol.

“Are you okay” a kindly and calm voice said over my shoulder, it was Suomi. I then replied in a rather slurred tone, “ Yes I am fine, just trying to get a crab back to Kensmington.” Crabs were in short supply and I was not having much success hailing one. Suomi said “Can we give you a lift, we are going towards Kensington, “Sank you” I said as he guided me into his limousine. Nadia & Suomi could not help laughing at my inebriated state, and neither could I. We drove to their beautiful apartment above their wonderful SPAGHETTI BOUTIQUE in Beauchamp Place. Their apartment was just opposite what was to become our favorite restaurant San Lorenzo.

After some sobering coffee, animated conversation and something to lift our spirits we went across to San Lorenzo and had a hilarious and delicious dinner together. The conversation flowed effortlessly and we all laughed together until 1 or 2 am. Lorenzo the owner joined us, there was a guitar hanging on the wall and I started to play and sing. The performance went down well as I recall, after a while everyone joined in. We were the only people in San Lorenzo. I felt as if I was with my family.  That is exactly what Suomi and Nadia became and are to me to this day. After we left San Lorenzo I went back to their apartment and Nadia showed me some of their beautiful fashion creations, we drank more and got out of it until the dawn broke.

After a week of non-stop partying and a massive creative exchange of ideas, we started to work together. I showed them some pictures of the beautiful Anglo-Japanese model Vivienne Lynn, who they thought was amazing. I said we should use the incredible gold lame jacket. I asked John Frieda and Barbara Daly to do the hair and make up respectively. Barbara and John agreed and we I shot these images at the Spaghetti shop. The hair and make up are incredible and still looks amazing today.

A week later I had lunch with the delightful art director and editor of Harpers, Willy Landels. I showed Willy, the photos of Vivienne in the Spaghetti clothes, his response was, “How wonderful, can I use this as a cover” I said of course. Willy was one of the most open hearted and generous men I have ever met and worked with. Willy helped me immeasurably as a young photographer he was my mentor. He gave me my first location shoot in Jaipur, India – (read all about it here). Nadia and Suomi and I, together with our mutual friend Michael Roberts (roving editor of Vanity Air, photographer and illustrator) had the most incredible times together. Michael recently wrote the forward to my book Arrowsmith: Fashion, Beauty and Portraits – in which he called me a scallywag, probably because we did crazy shoots like this with Bianca Jagger.

My friendship with Suomi and Nadia has continued to grow and I have spent so many memorable moments in Azelo, Italy, and at their amazing home in Tangier, Morocco. They are dear friends, they are the incredible Spaghetti people.

Model Vivienne Lynn – Make up Barbara Daly – Hair – John Frieda – Photography-Clive Arrowsmith

When I discovered them again between shoots, exhibitions and the whirlwind of the photography world. I realised how sensual and slightly androgynous the model is who I think is called Mona but I am not 100 percent sure.

I shot these phots on a Linhof 5×4 plate camera for Hearst Magazines – it was a story about the … More

The main thing I find using Adobe Photoshop is I can revitalise and re-image the colour and restore the original quality of the image. An analogy would be, if you remaster a Beatles album, you have the spirit of the original saved in a stable way and that is the blessing of digital.

I decided it would be fun to shoot in my garden as it was looking particularly good and I had some interesting lighting ideas. I decided to back light all the foliage in the garden so I could capture the the translucence quality of leaves and branches, which gave everything a more mystical look.

I was sinking further into disappointment as the art director leant forward said in an almost intimate whisper “and a lingerie shoot.” At that moment I heard Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’ in the background

In my absence I later learned that the minute I left the Manga people, the flash unit gave up the ghost and ‘the capacitor burnt out and melted down’.

Sometimes we’re too eager to press the shutter and take the picture straight away without realising that it is a silent image. Its voice speaks through the final photograph.

Maxine had given me complete freedom and trusted me to express myself. That is the best way to work with creatives and these are the best of days and the best of times, thanks Maxine.

The shoot was at Holborn Studios and I took pictures of him and Ann and then Ann left to go shopping. As she was leaving she called me over to the door and whispered, “Don’t let him go the pub”. The pub unfortunately or fortunately depending on your perspective was just across the road.

I was lucky enough to have a jam with them which was totally amazing except my guitar playing was not up to their playing. Listening to Cass singing “On and On” with Dave and Ned was mesmerising.

You can order signed copies of Clive’s books direct from us, for details please email eugenie(AT)totalcreative.com

Custom prints of Clive’s images are available on request too. Again contact us via the contact/about page with any specific requests or email eugenie(AT)totalcreativefreedom.com

Classical Indian Dancers Hand – Jaipur 1970