David Gandy in The Hitchcock Series | David Yarrow Photography
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2020
- David Gandy features in this Alfred Hitchcock inspired fine art photography shoot in Devon, England with David Yarrow and team.
The prompt for our project in Devon came - as it so often does - from the movies. In this case it was Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 masterclass in slow burn terror - The Birds. The film, which turned seagulls into the most terrifying villains in horror history, was shot on location in Bodega Bay, 70 miles north of San Francisco. The landscape is not dissimilar to South Devon and both communities rely heavily on tourism and the fishing industry.
The movie was also based on Daphne du Maurier's novella "The Birds", which was first published in her 1952 short story collection The Apple Tree. The protagonist of the novella is a farm hand living in Cornwall in the South West of England - close to our home. After watching the film again, and then learning this piece of trivia, I knew we had to try and recreate it. After all, there is no shortage of big and aggressive seagulls here.
There is a famous scene in “The Birds”, when Hedren - alone in a tiny boat - is first attacked by a seagull. That was the moment I wanted to recreate. The special effects in the movie are now somewhat mocked, but for 1963, he did one hell of a job in creating terror. For our recreation, I wanted as expansive and layered a narrative as possible. There is a lighthouse 18 miles out to sea from our home called Eddystone.
It was first built in 1698, over 70 years before people first settled in San Francisco and I rather liked that. Over and above that, it offered a special backdrop if it were to come off. It was a long shot - the English Channel is not friendly and getting a tiny wooden boat out there would be challenging, even before dropping our very own Tippi Hedren into it.
At about 6.10 pm on a glorious mid-June evening it all came off. The benign weather made the feared English Channel a mill pond, the birds came and Bella Di Lorenzo, in her tiny rowing boat, was a fearless superstar.
We were emboldened by the success of this first project and our attention moved immediately to a Hitchcock movie that many critics regard as iconic - ‘North by North West’. The rollercoaster tale of mistaken identity, with an assured Cary Grant as the lead, is still a cinematic pleasure. I have always been drawn to the single frame of Grant being chased by the crop duster plane. It grabs the attention and holds it as well as any still from any movie.
My plan was unapologetically to look to replicate the shot. I had not seen this attempted elsewhere and that fuelled my desire. Stepping into the shoes of Cary Grant is an onerous responsibility and we needed the very best, so I called on David Gandy - one of the most celebrated male models of our time. I knew that David would not only relish the opportunity, but also give me exactly the look the image needed.
Replicating the crop duster plane was harder, because of flying regulations in the UK and the rules of basic personal safety. We explored a range of possibilities and rightly involved David in the process, after all, he was going to be far more at risk than me. The wind was a key factor and the shoot was postponed twice as it was simply too strong - as is often the case on the Devon coast.
The final shot, taken on the cliffs above the English Channel, could never tell a behind the scenes story - so we have made a small film just to give proof that this did actually happen. This can be found on our website under “Hitchcock”.
There are so many people to thank for making this happen, especially Nick Johnston, who allowed us to film on his estate. But the biggest credit goes to David - who really does give Cary Grant a run for his money.
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What a photographer, what an artist, what a cool smoky voice.
It's refreshing to see a great artist just taking amazing pictures with his camera without hundred flashes and strobes
Thank you David and team for bringing these videos on RUclips! ❤️
Much Respect To David… Awesome Work! Greetings From Brooklyn, NY! 🙌🙏🏼
Bellissimo David Bravissimo
These are just fascinating. Being able to watch one of the best in the world do his
work. Amazing shots! Please keep making the In Focus series.
Absolutely amazing Dave! Love it!
Amazing creativity and organization. The result is worth it. Amazing David
Very inspiring, such a great privilege to be part of this amazing project
Very cool!
Eddy's Lighthouse seen it many times as a now retired Royal Netherlands Marine Warrant Officer great shots oh and yes Still using my D800 with now a 105mm F1.4 Art series lens.
I love your work btw !
Awesome work, gorgeous everything coming together just so!
Always inspiring . . .
thanks for sharing this and well done !
Wow your good ! That was awesome to watch!!!
I love this stuff keep it up well done
Amazing work, are any of the shots going to be available?
Tutto bellissimo bravissimi
Very cool images, and all without the traditional big drama of tons of lights, etc. !!!
awesome work, but I got one question, in the first one in the car, the bird is overexposed later on, correct? the bird was not there at the time of the photo?
Bravissimo bellissimo
David
Bravissimo
David Gandy's really aged. Not a patch on his former self, even 6 years ago. Not that I'm as pretty as I was 20 years ago either... but beauty is fleeting for sure.
I guess that's what happens when you have multiple businesses, a new family, and you change your fitness regime to be more focused on cardio and stamina. Also, you were never pretty - you revealed that fact with your comment.
Movie? Please name? Thanks.
A bit Tyler Shields inspired?
Olle ya resolvi mi trabajoben el infierno asi que adios infierno