For the second time in as many months, CHRIS FLOYD shoots GARY LINEKER, this time for a wonderful commission for NEW STATESMAN.
Lineker, the man who “seems to live in the Daily Mail’s head,” was photographed at his home in south-west London, in front of a huge wall-mounted section of an artist’s paint spattered studio floor that he had bought from a condemned building. His rescue dog Filbert dozed at his feet.
The NEW STATESMAN commission CHRIS FLOYD to shoot BILL GATES.
With an exceptional ability to swiftly engage and direct his sitters, Chris captured these striking and compelling portraits within the confines of a 5-minute sitting with one of the most famous, wealthy and philanthropic individuals on the planet! #billandmelindagatesfoundation.
Such fabulous work Chris and huge thanks to the NEW STATESMAN for this wonderful commission 🙌.
Please scroll down for Chris’s somewhat breath-taking review of the shoot! 👇
“The shoot is due to start at 5.55pm. I have 8 minutes to get a cover and an opener. By 5.45 we are ready. Time to test the lighting. Tom turns off the room lights. Ten seconds later they come back on again. Damn, there must be a motion sensor in here. The room lights are as powerful as our photographic lighting. We try several more times but the same thing happens. We will have to trust our judgement that we have the power relationship between the four lights right.
Now it’s 5.57. No matter what, he is leaving at 6.03pm. At 5.58 Bill Gates and New Statesman editor Jason Cowley emerge from the interview. Jason enthusiastically bigs me up to Bill, tells him I’m great….quick. Being quick is the ultimate compliment in this landscape.
The adrenal state at this point is off the chart. I dread to think what my blood pressure is at.
I had been told in advance to not try and engage him in conversation: ‘Don’t even bother.’
I open with, ‘I’ve been told to not even try and engage you in conversation.’
He does not reply.
I begin to direct him. Being free of having to talk meaningfully is liberating. Simple directions. Lean forward, lean back, turn this way, move that hand etc. When photographing people who wear glasses you’ve got to pay big attention to the danger of reflections. You’re managing so many variables and challenges and trying to communicate with the subject AND trying to get a portrait that’s good enough for a cover.
We begin. A few seconds later I turn to one of his people and ask, ‘Can you give me a two minute warning when we’ve got that much time left?’
‘Sure.’
She then looks down at her phone, ‘Oh…actually you only have one minute left.’
In my head, I’m screaming at myself to get something from him that displays a hint of character or individuality.
She is counting me down. ‘Twenty seconds.’
With 15 seconds left I exhort him to ‘Give us a wave before you go, Bill!’
His face lights up into a warm and playful chuckle. His hand comes up to do an almost cartoonishly over the top wave goodbye. Then he is up and gone.
Tom looks at the metadata on the images and declares:
‘Four minutes fifty seconds. 103 frames.’”
CHRIS FLOYD shot this wonderful series of portraits for ESQUIRE focussing on GARY LINEKER and his co-founders / hosts from the GOALHANGER / “THE REST IS…” podcast series.
GOALHANGER has become “the number one (and number two, and number five, and number nine and number 12) name in British podcasts”.. which is a considerable accolade..!
Huge thanks to all our team and to Esquire for the fabulous commission 🙌. Please scroll down to see the full series.
CHRIS FLOYD recently photographed a certain “bear of little brain” in his studio, commissioned by the good folks at ESQUIRE.
PADDINGTON was due to impart some of his duffel coat expertise upon the winter issue... He was an absolute delight to work with, however his enthusiasm for marmalade sandwiches did get a little out of hand…
HUGE thanks to Esquire for art direction and the wonderful commission, and to all our lovely team, with a special shout to Framestore for bringing a touch of ursine magic 🐻✨
Beautiful portraits from PHIL FISK’s recent shoot for OBSERVER with actor HARRIET WALTER.
Star of stage and screen, she has had roles in shows ranging from Succession and Ted Lasso to Killing Eve and on stage is one of few female actors to play both a king and queen of England.
Harriet has now also published a book entitled “She Speaks! What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said”.
CHRIS FLOYD recently captured these wonderful portraits of SIR MARK CAVENDISH KBE for MEN'S HEALTH.
In the words of his yellow-jersey-wearing pal, Olympic gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins, 'This fella is the GOAT.' The British cyclist made history in his final Tour de France this year, with a record-breaking 35 stage wins.
In Chris’s words.. “The man gives it everything, no matter what he’s asked to do. We wanted to do one final shot at the end: the old long exposure light painting trick with a torch. Mark offered to draw a man on a bicycle and despite several acceptable attempts in the first few goes, he insisted on carrying on, believing that he could do a better one. So great to work with someone who’s willing and wants to give to the process.”
CHRIS FLOYD recently captured these striking, iconic portraits of British actor RUPERT EVERETT for YOU Magazine. Styling by Joanne M Kennedy.
‘I’m like a bicycle without brake pads now. I’m careering down the hill and I’m putting on the brakes and nothing’s happening. The older you get, the more shrill and anxious you become. You become more fearful about everything.’
Phil Fisk shot these gorgeous portraits of "celebrated musician and all-round creative powerhouse" Neneh Cherry for Observer, describing her as "a whirlwind of energy and good vibes that infected the whole studio". Phil is "still reeling from the hugs"!
Neneh's memoir “A Thousand Threads” is out now.
Huge thanks to Observer for the commission and fabulous styling - and to hair and makeup artists Shamara Roper and Hila Karmand 💫
CHRIS FLOYD shot 23 year old Welsh rugby winger turned American Football receiver LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT in his home town of Penarth for the new issue of MEN'S HEALTH.
LRZ recently made his pre-season debut for the Kansas City Chiefs in a game against Jacksonville Jaguars. Good luck to him in his future #NFL career.
Congratulations Chris and team - such a great series of portraits 🙌
Phil Fisk recently shot the cast of a new theatre production of Nobel-Prize winning author Annie Ernaux’s acclaimed autobiography "The Years" (currently showing at London's Almeida Theatre) for Observer.
Photographed here are the awesome ANJLI MOHINDRA, DEBORAH FINDLAY, GINA MCKEE, HARMONY ROSE-BREMNER and ROMOLA GARAI.
There was only a short set up time on location at the beautiful Dally members club on Upper Street, but sensing the actors were all comfortable in each others presence Phil was able to capture these gorgeous shots of them together. 🙌✨
Chris Floyd shoots these striking portraits of media personality, model and author, Katie Price for You.
Bryony Gordon, writing in the accompanying article desribes her as, “A very particular kind of national treasure, often mocked, frequently caricatured and rarely, if ever, understood”.
Thank you to - Picture Director: Ester Malloy, CD: Nathasha Tomalin-Hall, Fashion Director: Sophie Dearden, Hair & Makeup: Stephanie Emma Jeary - and all our amazing team.
CHRIS FLOYD shot these fabulous portraits of singer/songwriter and guitarist RICHARD HAWLEY for the new issue of THE IDLER.
“28 years ago I did a series of single sleeves for a band called Longpigs. They were art directed by Pat & Jo Skinny, and the band left the three of us alone to do what we liked. It was the perfect creative partnership. In March of this year I went up to Sheffield for the day to photograph that band’s guitarist, Richard Hawley, who I had not seen since a night in Paris in 1996. We did some pictures at The Samuel Worth Chapel in the Sheffield General Cemetery. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pub listening to Richard’s amazing stories of his life in music. It was the perfect way to spend a day.”
Desperately seeking the real KEIR STARMER, down at his local pub!
CHRIS FLOYD shoots SIR KEIR STARMER for YOU Magazine. Such great images - huge thanks to Ester Malloy for the commission 🙌
Scroll down for more 👇
In Chris’s words…
“This is the second time I’ve photographed Sir Keir Starmer. Last month I was commissioned by You Magazine to spend a couple of hours with him in the lead up to the final Arsenal game of the season, against Everton, played at their home stadium, The Emirates, in London. The night before the game, I was given the details of the pub where he likes to meet his football pals, and told to arrive there at 2.15pm. The game was due to kick off at 4pm. This meant I’d have about 90 minutes to shoot my pictures: Sir Keir in the pub, doing what football fans do in pubs before football matches: drink beer and talk incessantly about the fact that Arsenal really need a decent centre forward.
I arrive and we’re introduced, he remembers me from the book cover shoot, and I’m invited to sit at the big pub table among the group, and snap away. I introduce myself to everyone at the table and explain why I’m here and that if any of them don’t want to be seen in the pictures then they should just say and I will respect that wish. One of his friends, a fellow barrister, says that he’s more than happy to be seen with him, adding, “I adore him.”
Pints are drunk. The conversation is relentless, exclusively about football.
At 3.15pm we set off for the 20 min walk to the stadium, Sir Keir with his son, and about ten other people who he meets up with before the game. At first the walk was quiet, small groups of other fans here and there, unrecognised, anonymous. But then we emerged from the labyrinth of back streets onto Hornsey Road and, as always with a football crowd, you start to get the feeling that you’re one of millions of bees coalescing around the hive.
I’m walking backwards, trying to shoot pictures of Sir Keir with his two friends, Chris and Macca, relying entirely on their goodwill to tell me if I’m going to step in front of a bus, or under a lorry. I make the comment, “This is where I get to say the immortal Ginger Rogers line, ‘I did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in heels,’” and it gets the laugh from the three of them that I need to make a picture fit for a magazine opening spread.”
Sir Keir Starmer, 19 May 2024
PHIL FISK shoots these striking portraits of actor TOM BURKE for GUARDIAN, in anticipation of the release of FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA in cinemas this week.
CHRIS FLOYD recently shot these wonderful portraits with singer/songwriter/musician JACK SAVORETTI for his new album ‘MISS ITALIA’ (his first-ever-all-Italian-speaking album connecting Jack with his Italian heritage, and a “simply stunning” tribute to his late father).
Chris and Jack captured the portraits “with just a camera and an 85mm” on the streets of Milan and we love the results 🙌✨
PHIL FISK shoots CORNELIA PARKER “one of Britain's best loved and most acclaimed contemporary artists” for OBSERVER.
Cornelia is captured with her favourite work in The National Gallery - The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck. The painting has inspired her since she was a student… “In the flesh it’s quite small but immaculately painted.”
This beautiful, mellow-hued portrait was taken in the window of calm and quiet before the gallery was open to the public. We love the subtle gestures and pose and the pale trim running from the canvas through Cornelia’s dress. Such a beautiful shot 🤩.
CHRIS FLOYD was commissioned to shoot this wonderfully contemplative portrait for the cover of KEIR STARMER THE BIOGRAPHY by Tom Baldwin, recently published by William Collins.
Actor DOMINIC WEST, photographed by CHRIS FLOYD for SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE at The Theatre Royal, Bath - ahead of an 11-week run in Arthur Miller’s ‘A View From The Bridge’ at The Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
Big thanks to all our team and to Adam Hearn for the wonderful commission 🙏✨
CHRIS FLOYD was recently commissioned to shoot this delightful commission for IDLER - featuring Giles Wood and Mary Killen from unlikely hit show GOGGLEBOX, at home in their Wiltshire “grottage”!
“Over the past few years, in a strange development, Giles and Mary have both become famous for watching telly, and if we ever reintroduced our “Idler of the Year Award”, then Giles would be a front-runner. He has become a national hero for doing very little.” 🙌✨
Oscar winner – and now director, DANIEL KALUUYA – and rapper and Top Boy star KANE ROBINSON, aka KANO, are longtime friends. Photographed together here by PHIL FISK for OBSERVER on the release of their new movie, dystopian thriller THE KITCHEN (in selected cinemas and on Netflix).
Phil’s stunning portraits capture the intensity of these two outstanding actors, as well as a hint of the mischief that comes with their close friendship 🙌✨
