Girls on Film

Tuesday afternoon last week, during a train journey to London where I was scheduled to photograph arrivals at a gala screening of All of us strangers I received a WhatsApp message.

Hi Julie I hope you’re well. Are you in London or Worthing today?
We’ve just now had the go-ahead for a photo with Carey Mulligan this evening at the Soho Hotel, we’re doing a Q&A with her for Girls On Film.

I work quite closely with HLA as they also produce the monthly MK 3D show at the BFI as well at the Girls on Film podcast.

The timings worked well for me and so I found myself walking from the BFI to Soho carrying a couple of H2‘s, a Godox V1 and a remote trigger. I.e. Not what I would have packed if i was expecting this kind of job.

It was a lovely relaxed shoot. Carey arrived and we picked a couple of seats in the theatre set aside for the photo.

I grabbed a member of the team for Voice activated light-stand duties (“Hold this light please and do what I say”)

On the day that she received the Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress, Carey Mulligan attended the Girls on Film screening of Maestro where she took part in a Q&A with podcast founder and film critic Anna Smith on Tuesday 23 January 2024 at Soho Hotel, London. Picture by Julie Edwards.

The fact it was the same day as the Oscar nominations were announced, with Carey being nominated for Maestro was a bonus.

Sunday saw me back in London, this time at the Ham Yard hotel for a shoot with another Oscar nominated actor Lily Gladstone. This time I had a portable light-stand with an AD200 and beauty dish (knowing I would be working on my own).

We scouted the hotel for a location and found this sofa.

Lily Gladstone and Anna Smith photographed following a Girls on Film screening of Killers of the Flower Moon plus Q&A with Lily Gladstone and Film Critic Anna Smith on Sunday 28 January 2024 at Ham Yard Hotel, London. The actor is nominated for a Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Oscar) for her role in the film. Picture by Julie Edwards.

Lily Gladstone photographed following a Girls on Film screening of Killers of the Flower Moon plus Q&A with Lily Gladstone and Film Critic Anna Smith on Sunday 28 January 2024 at Ham Yard Hotel, London. The actor is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Oscar) for her role in the film. Picture by Julie Edwards.

I quite enjoy these (slightly pressured) shoots. Obviously there is always a time factor involved and so I try to capture something unique in a relaxed manner, in the minimum of time (as the longer these shoots go on, the less relaxed they become). The key to this is planning, with a few alternatives in mind should things not go as expected. Happily these two shoots went exactly as expected (thanks to Hedda, Anna, The GirlsOnFilm team, Netflix & DDA).

How do you approach this sort of work? What are your thoughts and comments? Let me know below.