Black and white portrait of Tinie Tempah, British rapper and singer.
A few years back I was asked to photo an event in London held by Swiss watch brand Audemars Piguet. The aim was to photo at least 100 guests, edited to 1:1 (ie square format) for the brand to publish online later that week on a microsite dedicated to the event. The highlight of the evening was special guest Tinie Tempah who performed at the event. And I mean special guest, not a headline announced before the event, but a guest, an artist, a singer named a split second before he bounded onto the stage and started singing (the crowd did indeed go wild). I recall the energy and enthusiasm with which he performed was wholeheartedly received and given back by a bouncing and rambunctious crowd on the dance floor at the event.
I digress… in-between the 100 portraits my brief was to be ready at short notice, for when Tinie arrived, to go backstage and take his portrait. As I like to prep and try not to leave things to chance, I found a few minutes before he turned up and recce’d backstage. The room was not camera friendly; the term that springs to mind is ‘moody’, that is to say dark. I made friends with someone I believe was part of the entourage and asked them to stand in for Tinie so I could get the composition and camera settings correct. I chose a blank wall which had a strong floor light on camera right pointing upwards (hence the strong shadows on Tinie’s left hand side); a few test frames and viola! I made a note of my camera settings and returned to the main event to carry on with the 100 portraits task. Tinie arrived sometime thereafter, at which stage I took a few frames based off my recce.
Audemars Piguet later printed a large copy of the portrait to give to Tinie as a keepsake. Sometimes I wonder if/ where he displays it and if he likes it; I asked for my name to be on the print somewhere and I think the brand ensured it was in reverso (on the back).
