Online blog of acclaimed fashion , celebrity & Ads photographer Clive Arrowsmith
Warhol was a man of few words and wielded an antique polaroid camera and insistently took polaroids which he then dropped on the floor, without looking at them. I said ‘Are you going to open the polaroids Andy? He said, ‘No, I like them to cook because the colour becomes more intense.’
‘It’s Clive,” I ventured we have a meeting about your movie”, there was a clattering of what sounded like cans, then Hunter let me in, where he shambled into the room and then slumped down onto the floor leaning back in an open fridge which had, had it’s door aggressively removed by Hunter.
The shoot was at Holborn Studios and I took pictures of him and Ann and then Ann left to go shopping. As she was leaving she called me over to the door and whispered, “Don’t let him go the pub”. The pub unfortunately or fortunately depending on your perspective was just across the road.
I was lucky enough to have a jam with them which was totally amazing except my guitar playing was not up to their playing. Listening to Cass singing “On and On” with Dave and Ned was mesmerising.
As the shoot was taking some time I knocked on the door and was called into the dressing room by Raquel who was in front of the mirror doing her eyelashes in a rather tiny bra and pants looking like the Goddess she is. As my regular readers will know I am rarely lost for words and could feel myself getting all hot and bothered and looking at my feet and shifting my weight from one leg to the next.
A joyful and familiar Liverpool drawl spoke to me down the phone saying “Clive, I need you to shoot the … More
The scene reminded me of an Andrew Wythe painting that I had always adored and had influenced me so much in my own painting and into photography. I felt the extraordinary poetic beauty of the synchronicity of being in the same landscape he had viewed and which had inspired him and now inspired me.
I kept saying “Yes, Arthur in a moment, can’t you see I’m trying to interview one of the greatest guitarists in the world”. I thought a faint smile drifted across Ry’s face but I think that was wishful thinking. Eventually Arthur could contain himself no longer and he said within earshot of Ry ” Mr Arrow you have toilet paper stuck on your forehead”.
In 1966 I was commissioned to do some illustrations on the set of Kubrick’s 2001. This was an extraordinary … More
I didn’t know what to expect when I was booked to work with Canned Heat. They had a pretty Rock … More
