Echoes of Paris Photographs

ANYTHING FOR THE SHOT – EVEN 7 YEARS OF BAD LUCK

The team behind the production of American in Paris at the Oxford Playhouse (for which I directed the trailer) asked me to shoot the promotional photography for their original musical, Echoes of Paris. It was very last minute so I just showed up at the Michael Pilch Studio as instructed with my Fuji Film camera. 

The vision was mirror shots reflecting the cast – or more specifically, shattered mirror fragments. When I arrived the crew were in the process of trying to break a mirror (and joking about the seven years of bad luck they were about to impose on themselves). Mirrors are surprisingly hard to break – or at least to break into usable, nicely shaped chunks. Wearing protective eye gear, we tried using a hammer; we even through a brick at a mirror, which did a little too much damage. Eventually we created a few good fragments. 

We shot in the studio using spotlights to illuminate the shots. Someone had to hold the mirror fragments, so it needed to be dark enough that they weren't seen. It took some patience to figure out the angles, and because the mirrors were not fixed it one place, we would often lose the perfect shot. I had to be quick to take them.

I did a quick edit on the photos (some I have made black and white) and I think they look great. One was used for the poster shot.