Strictly Giovanni - Flashback

July 2022

This was shot for “Flashback” a regular slot in the new Guardian Saturday Magazine.

They ask a celebrity to provide a significant photo from their past and then we have to recreate it, sourcing or making the location, finding similar clothes or props and then lining the shots up so that they look the same.

This is a fun exercise in deconstructing the element of a photo, but often the original photo isn’t a great one and we spend a lot of time and money recreating a bad photograph. The good side is that the subject is collaborating, to make the pose and expression as close as possible, with comedy inevitably ensuing.

On this one we shot Giovanni Pernice, a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing. As well as finding the shorts and bumbag we also had to get a barrier (which was not similar to the Italian one in the original) and make a chevron board. The slightly tricky part was finding a workable location - in this case a corner of Brockwell Park, at the right time of day to reproduce the light in the original, and a bunch of sand to make the beach sand edge.

And yes since you asked, we did go into the park carrying a 2 meter long barrier and 4 bags of white sand. The shoot was agreed at very short notice so we didn’t have time to get full clearance beforehand, so had to rely on the air of authority and belonging, so we all wore high viz vests - which made us totally invisible!

On the other hand, Giovanni - with his shirt off, was very visible to all the other (very pleased) park users.

The interview in the Guardian is here.