Online blog of acclaimed fashion , celebrity & Ads photographer Clive Arrowsmith
“There is this really beautiful girl who is writing about alternative culture and we want to do a feature on hippies.” “What’ I said ‘Hippies for Harpers” I was amazed that they would consider doing something that was so trendy. “Her name is Caroline Coon”, he continued “and she knows where it’s at”.
Steven, Gary and Karl worked away and Steven would say to me, “What do you think?” and I would say “Yes, but even more, go even further” and he would then come out with even more extreme things.
In the morning, there was no sign of Susie when we sat down for an early breakfast, which made Martyn and I panic as this was the last shot for the calendar.
Sometimes we’re too eager to press the shutter and take the picture straight away without realising that it is a silent image. Its voice speaks through the final photograph.
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.
We went up to his hotel room to look at the clothes. Where Michael had arranged them all over the place and set up an ironing board. As we talked he continued to iron clothes. I said “Michael don’t you want to get someone else to do that?” He smiled at me and said, “No Clive, I find it very therapeutic actually.” and ironed on.
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.
Willy also asked me to come up with a concept. I had been reading a lot about Egyptian mythology and was particularly fascinated by the falcon headed Egyptian God Horus . This fascination had begun after reading the Egyptian Book Of The Dead and taking acid with my assistant (affectionately known as The Wasp) at a friend’s manor house in the country, where I saw a vision of Horus.
I first met the Spaghetti people the divine Nadia and Suomi La Valle in 1979, at that moment I was … More
