Rankin is used to dealing with difficult celebrities while shooting their portraits, but for his latest project he faced a different challenge: photographing them remotely.
The photographer was commissioned by the Virgin Media Baftas to create portraits of this year’s nominees for the TV awards, which will be given out by Richard Ayoade on Friday – remotely, of course.
Instead of stressing over setting up a studio, Rankin had to deal with strained phone calls with the stars’ partners, and in some cases their children, as he turned them into celebrity photographers for the day.
The only apparatus the nominees were sent was a light, and then, via video call, Rankin directed the action. The Virtues star Stephen Graham, who is up for best lead actor, was photographed jumping on a trampoline by his son. The Sex Education actor Ncuti Gatwa, who is in the best male performance in a comedy programme category, wore a tuxedo jacket at the end of his garden.
Despite the photographers’ inexperience, Rankin found in some cases they were naturals. “With Stephen Graham, his son took the camera and he quickly shot some pictures and sent them to me,” he said. “I looked at it and said: ‘Yeah, you got it.’ In two frames he’d managed to capture a great picture.”
Some cases proved harder than others. Glenda Jackson, who is nominated in the lead actress category for her role in the BBC One drama Elizabeth is Missing, did not want to speak to Rankin and sent a photograph taken by her assistant.
Other stars took matters into their own hands: Joe Absolom, who has a best supporting actor nomination for ITV’s A Confession, and Suranne Jones, who is also up for best lead actress for her performance in Sally Wainwright’s Gentleman Jack, shot their own images without any guidance. “I curated them, let’s say,” Rankin said.
The other actors took a selection of pictures that Rankin then selected from.
He said the remote photography worked for the most part and he could see it become a normal part of his working life. “I don’t think it’s going to completely go back to normal,” he said. “I’ve done a few shoots now and it is weird shooting without that kind of intimacy, but there’s a different kind of intimacy that you get through digital.”
The Virgin Media Baftas are on BBC One at 7pm on Friday.
