10x8 Plate Portraits

As I was working on the Bestival book with Dan Smith, we realised that many of the artists coming into the studio weren’t in fancy dress, so we set up a separate plate-camera portrait studio to photograph them. Using a large-format camera meant each portrait required time, stillness, and presence; only two frames were shot of each sitter, making every exposure considered and deliberate.

I was fortunate enough to photograph Gil Scott-Heron during this process — a portrait that may well have been his last. RIP Gil. Your music lives on.