"I was brand new so none of the bookers were feeling particularly helpful"

Blast from the Past - At the time how I had really struggled to find a good model as I travelled from one agency to another. Part of the problem was that I was brand new so none of the bookers were feeling particularly helpful. The other problem I guess is that the magazine itself was very much a niche product aimed at the cosmetics trade rather than the general public, so the readership circulation wasn’t huge.

"I was really fed up with the choice of models"

There came a moment when I was really fed up with the choice of models I was being shown and time was running short, so I went into a well known agency just as they were about close where I managed to pull a head booker to one side and tell her how incredibly disappointed I was with their choice of models and that I expected far better from a leading agency.

"she took me seriously and clearly her pride kicked in"

As a new photographer this was a risky strategy because I could have completely alienated the head booker at one of the best agencies in the world, which would have been a major blow for my fledgling career. I must have struck a chord though because she took me seriously and a clearly her pride kicked in, so she pulled out a book from under a shelf (literally) that hadn’t been on show before and told me “This girl is beautiful, we always have a couple in town”. She was right and I was able to book the model for my small editorial.

"The only logical solution was to shoot the model topless"

On the day of the shoot I remember I had been racing around like a maniac trying to get everything organised and I had really struggled to find any decent clothes because the job was low budget and there was no money for a stylist. The only logical solution was to shoot the model topless and thankfully she agreed. We proceeded to do a series of images and one of those was the one shown here.

"As a photographer who genuinely likes women I find it natural to portray them in a positive light"

I have often felt that far too many photographers portray a very negative image of the models they photograph and I am not sure that women really like this. After all, why would you want to be photographed by somebody who makes you look like you’re constantly miserable? As a photographer who genuinely likes women I find it natural to portray them in a positive light which is why I like to inject images with a feeling of freshness and optimism.

"I was asked to shoot an advertising assignment for Rimmel cosmetics"

The image was eventually published and it led to an editorial with a better known magazine, but a few months after that it was seen by a leading advertising agency and I was asked to shoot an advertising assignment for Rimmel cosmetics along the same lines. The image from that subsequent shoot was then used in several European countries to advertise a new range of grey coloured makeup that was in fashion at the time.

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