This shoot (Leigh) was in Scotland, Edinburgh in fact. Leigh was an infuriating timekeeper. She was supposed to meet me several times, and never turned up, then suddenly said, “I can come now!” when I had just an hour before I had to go to Glasgow.
So although I stayed three nights, I got just 45 minute shoot with a woman who lived a short walk away. I had no studio lighting so all you see is natural light and it was a very bright morning with sun streaming through the windows and my little flat was either too dark or too bright and I was in a fearful rush because she could not stick to any of her previous times in the evenings, when of course, I’d had nothing to do but wait for her when she didn’t turn up.
In her defence, she has never done a shoot before, and has never since. She is one of those people who lives totally in the moment, a free spirit, and I don’t think watches, alarm clocks, diaries or schedules are a part of her life. She was nervous too, and it took a while before she relaxed. I am, even if I say it myself, good at getting people to relax, and you’ll see a slight shift in her expressions and then she has a little more confidence to go nude. She was, and is, a lovely person, despite her infuriating spontaneity which is not helpful to a working man with a schedule of working commitments in the country for a limited time.
I seldom get to Scotland. Poor Leigh had a stoke a few months after this shoot. I put the photos away and didn’t look at them for a time. I knew I’d had this rushed experience and that there was less than a half a shoot to show you. But she is recovering slowly now, and I said hello to her the other day and see that she’s starting to get back to her old self. So I feel like its time to dust these photos down, imperfect though they are, and share them with you.
Leigh is one of those people you’ll never see elsewhere but here. She’s gloriously woman next door, and I would so have loved to finish this shoot because she was just beginning to blossom and relax when it had to end. We had a list of ideas we’d discussed for a few months before I travelled up.
I hope you’ll excuse the set being very hit and miss.