The next portrait was with the film correspondent at one of his favourite independent cinemas in the city, 'La Clef' in the St.Michel neighbourhood South of the Seine.
I'd already had a look at the venue through Google images so was aware that the retro exterior might work well. After we met and had a look round the interior of the venue which was completely uninspiring it became obvious that the exterior was what we had to play with.
As the cinema was on a corner the view down the adjacent street offered a bit of depth to the image and we tried a few images working with this
By that time in the day it was starting to get a bit blowy and having a lighting umbrella at the end of a ten foot pole can be asking for trouble. Being a photographer I've found that the one thing you learn fast is improvisation, do what you can to get the shots in the time you've got any way possible.
By taking my belt off and lashing the light stand to a nearby pole it meant that I could continue shooting without the worry that the whole set up would blow over, it worked a treat (although now my trousers might fall down, but who cares, the images come first)
At the time when I was commissioned for the shoot the Art Editor and Picture Desk at the magazine had discussed with me the idea of having the series of portraits with a relaxed casual atmosphere, injecting a bit of humour where ever possible. I really like this as a concept and with this in mind I asked the sitter to hold up his hands as if holding the key in the cinemas logo. I was pleased to see that it was one of these images that eventually ran in the piece
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