willem
Ahhh this was an annoying one.
I’d picked up an event job during Cannes Film Festival. It was for a company that has a good presence at most large events and conventions so they usually have good speakers. I heard they had Willem Defeo so I had to make it there to capture him. I spoke to the brand whenI arrived and we talked about a quick portrait either before or after his panel - this was tentatively agree if I was “quick”. I knew I’d only need about 15 seconds to get 2 or 3 usable shots so I was pretty confident that it would all go well.
But then the bad thing happened, as it so often does. His PR was having absolutely none of it. I mean I get it, its fair enough - their job is to put their client in the right place at the right time and I’m sure theres no end of people trying to to get more than they “bought”. But they were very clear in making sure I understood that they genuinely didn’t care about me or whatever I wanted to do. Sometimes you have to just applaud the professional rudeness - fair enough. Our bartering session ended with me basically saying if he walks past me can I have 1 frame which elicited the worlds most unconvincing “maybe” I’ve ever heard.
When my moment came at the end of the panel I has already positioned myself far to the stars he would come down, knowing that he would get jumped by everyone I had already started shooting before his PR started pushing people back. But oh no! Something stopped Willem in his tracks as he’s making his way to the airconidion van waiting. It’s someone he knows - or at least it being very nice and pretending to know them. They talk for around 45 seconds which feels like years to his PR I’m sure. The there person next in line pushes for a selfie. Willem is a lovely man so he waits while the main fails to unlock his phone and press the button. He gets a selfie then passes the phone to someone else to get a full length. I can’t believe it. We must be up to around 1 minute of actual time here now - I only wanted a few seconds. I can feel any hope of me getting time slipping away so I push right to the front and call my assistant in to point my little Profoto soft box as best they can towards him. He finally breaks away from selfie man and our eyes meet - I think he slightly regonsied me from shooting him during the event so with his PR quite literally pulling him away he hold infront of me for about 3 seconds. He’s way closer than I want him, like literally almost tow to toe so my lens is too tight - I think it was 50mm. I shoot 5 frames, he smiles and walks on. The PR gives me a look as she shouts them back to the van. I got a shot. It my not have been the one I wanted, but I’ll take what I can get.
Until next time Willem.
