Getting a phone call from The Sunday Times Magazine is always an exciting thing. I have done a few commissions with them already and am always hungry for more. A good few months back I got a call from Jessica from the Sunday Times Magazine team with a really unusual task - to create an image library of one of their columnists, Matt Rudd, doing things. Specifically - doing silly things.
Matt is The Sunday Times’s God of Small Things - his column asks and answers questions big and small - from why can’t children switch the lights off to whether we should fear an Ebola outbreak. The columns are funny and are always accompanied by a picture of Matt involved in an activity relevant to what this week’s column is about.
Typically before a shoot I brainstorm around a concept and fill a side or two of A4 with ideas, then pick the best 2-3 for the photoshoot - you don't get time for any more. This assignment was very different - not only did I have to come up with loads of ideas, but we used them all. Actually, we used even more as both Matt and Jessica had their own concepts in mind. So we had Matt pointing in all directions, eating pasta, levitating, meditating, celebrating and many more.
One hour was not enough - we have now met up a couple of times to photograph as many ideas as possible. I always learn a thing or two or an photoshoot but the last thing I thought I would learn was work fashion tips. Turns out wearing red trousers to work will provide your sitter with excellent reasons to mock you. I should have remembered that infamous blog, but by the time I did it was too late.
Faux pas aside, we captured plenty of fun images and you can enjoy them every week in The Sunday Times Magazine. Look out for The God of Small Things and ask Matt your #smallthing on Twitter.
Massive thanks to Matt for being so much fun to photograph and Jessica for bringing so many ideas to the shoot.
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