Richard Hardcastle

The 43 year old Londoner, Richard Hardcastle has become one of the most renowned photographers among the British show business industry. He has worked with many of the industries greats including names such as Stephen Fry, Rowan Atkinson and Terry Gilliam. Photographing comedians portraits has become some what of a specialty of Hardcastle's, more specifically photographing them not just as the comedians but photographing them "as people who just happened to be comedians", often managing to turn comedians in to rock stars.
"I wanted to do rock stars, and bands, and film stars. And I thought, rather than practising on my friends, I would just start photographing celebs. I was at art college in Edinburgh, and it was the comedy festival at the time. I was a fan of comedy, but thought it was about time that photographers starting shooting comedians as people who just happened to be comedians. Because a lot of it was jump-out-from-behind-a-pot-plant kind of stuff, or pull-a-funny-face. Or my other bugbear, which is them standing there with a microphone in their hand."





This portrait of Ricky Gervais is from Hardcastle's exhibiton Dark Tales which is a collection of photographs where Hardcastle presents celebrities in a dark and twisted light in his painstakingly detailed scenes. The above photo depicts a clown sitting on the toilet with a gun in his hand most likely contemplating suicide. This photo specifically really intrigued me; to me, it depicts the sad reality that often the people who seem the happiest, the people who are always having a laugh or 'clowning around' are often the people who are suffering from depression.

Another feature of this image that makes it so intriguing and sets the mood is the setting - a bathroom. It makes me think this is a nod to the many celebrities who have been found dead in the bathroom- Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Jim Morrison to name a few. The colours (or lack of) of the surrounding walls also add to the gloominess of the image and also helps to make the main focus the bright red clown.

One more thing that really appeals to me in this photo is the natural lighting, the single window in the bathroom provides the perfect soft, natural lighting to give that solemn, gloomy atmosphere present in this photo.

"Rich has a way of making even a rainy day spent standing in a muddy field look glamorous and important"
- Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

Over the past decade Richard Hardcastle has managed to shape and change the way comedians are photographed, it's no longer just sticking them in front of a white background with a microphone in their hand or pulling a funny face, he has definitely changed my way of thinking and will continue to inspire photographers for years to come.