All thanks to Antonio for these.
All posts by Scott Rylander
The Barber of Seville
Production shots from the English National Opera’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. I was thrilled to be commissioned to photograph the 25th-anniversary outing of Jonathan Miller’s staging earlier this year.
Pitchfork on stage
Production shots from the spectacularly unsettling 2012 revival of Philip Ridley’s play, The Pitchfork Disney, at the Arcola.
The Pitchfork Disney poster
One of several poster images prepared to advertise the revival of Philip Ridley’s play The Pitchfork Disney at the Arcola Theatre.
Shooting actor (and all-round good egg) Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in nothing but a thin, open jacket under a wind-tunnel bridge on a midwinter’s evening presented a number of challenges, not least of which was trying not to freeze him to death. The resulting image is actually a composite with elements from seven different photos (the fluffy clouds of Te Anau, New Zealand give a star turn) and a tiny bit of CGI, making this one of the most technically-complicated shots I’ve ever produced.
Based on an original concept by photographer Annabel Vere.
Back to basics
Reed beds, blossom and a field near Chichester. Because I still take pictures that don’t have people in them from time to time.
Climate change and the theatrical headshot
In an effort to give this post a hook I looked up quotes about rain on the web.
One of the more popular offerings was: “The rain falling remains (sic) me of you because its (sic) falling hard, and I am too.”
Then there was the inspiring: “Invariably our best nights were those when it rained, for then we were not troubled with mosquitoes.”
And then there was: “Did Bach ever eat pancakes at midnight?” Which probably makes sense in the same way that if, hypothetically, I were to throw the words “Miley”, “Cyrus” and “twerking” into this post several times over I’d stand a reasonable chance of gaining a few hits from people looking for shots of Miley Cyrus twerking who’d be mighty disappointed to find a post about actors’ headshots that had nothing to do with Miley Cyrus twerking because they were looking for shots of Miley Cyrus twerking.
Which just goes to show two things. One, the internet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And — two — sometimes I should just get to the point.
We’ve had an awful lot of rain in the UK over the past couple of years. And I take a lot of headshots. So it’s rather nice that I’m now able to offer people the choice of doing them in the studio whenever we are not troubled with mosquitoes.
Four Nights in Knaresborough
Production shots for the 2011 production of Paul Webb’s Tarantino-meets-Chaucer play, Four Nights in Knaresborough, at the Southwark Playhouse.
Seb Billings directed with lighting by Howard Hudson and design by Martin Thomas.
But I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end
So it’s taken me a little over two years to update my blog.
Which is a little over twice as long as it took me the last time I did this.
Well, what better way to return than with something that little bit eccentric, subtly to suggest that I spend my hiatuses reclining in an institution and therefore have some semblance of an excuse?
You see, every so often someone comes along who lets you do everything you wouldn’t dream of trying out in a normal shoot because it’s just too wacko. Like sticking them next to an industrial fan while wearing loose clothing, shooting them through an inch of polythene, getting them to shake their head so hard their retinas could detach, and trying to take pictures of them in the dark without bumping into them. Step forward Sophie, you’re a genius.
Oh, and another thing… I’m now on Twitter. If you’d like to follow me, I’m scottrylander.
Insert cockney rhyming slang here
Some more from the revival of Lionel Bart’s Fings Aint Wot They Used T’Be earlier this year at the Union Theatre. The pictures speak for themselves, although I took the liberty of expunging the girls-on-their-knees number (use your imagination) to protect more innocent audiences…
Particular thanks to Chris Hornby and Oliver Townsend for their assistance on the publicity shoot.
It’s also only fair to namecheck the unsung heroes (beyond the cast and everyone else involved, of course) who make a key difference to the visuals when photographing the production itself, so here goes: for sumptuous lighting design, Jason Meininger, for sumptuous design of everything else, Oliver Townsend (again), and, as associate designer, Emma Tompkins.
Doing a poster on a microbudget
You will need:
- One Myra Hindley expression
- One table mat
- One chopped-up legal folder
- One Director’s Extremely Cooperative Boyfriend
- Imaginative directions and innuendo (batch)
- Not-especially-straight lines (batch)
- One Producer
- Producer’s exquisite bow-shaped lips (pair)
- One stick of vivid red glittery lipstick
- One piece of torn white card
- Glue
- One Talented Graphic Designer Called Richard Dobbs
- One Photographer
Serves: 1,000
Preparation time: Overnight
Stand Photographer upright, garnish with table mat or chopped-up legal folder (to suit preference). Marinade in Myra Hindley expression. Illuminate to taste.
Simmer Photographer gently, being careful not to bring to the boil, leave to cool and freeze overnight.
Stand Director’s Extremely Cooperative Boyfriend upright, garnish with table mat. Marinade with imaginative directions and innuendo. Illuminate as before and refrigerate in a large fridge.
Remove Director’s Extremely Cooperative Boyfriend from fridge and decorate temporarily for cockney spelling test. Fail test.
Remove decorations, then skewer Director’s Extremely Cooperative Boyfriend while still cold on not-especially-straight lines.
Apply stick of vivid red glittery lipstick to Producer. Remove Producer’s exquisite bow-shaped lips and glue to piece of torn white card (illustrated above). Sprinkle Director’s Extremely Cooperative Boyfriend skewered on not-especially-straight lines with Producer’s exquisite bow-shaped lips glued to piece of torn white card.
Taking care not to damage Producer’s exquisite bow-shaped lips glued to piece of torn white card attached to Director’s Extremely Cooperative Boyfriend, detach Director’s Extremely Cooperative Boyfriend’s head above the nostrils. Dust with Talented Graphic Designer Called Richard Dobbs and serve.
