London Town

My goal was to take a picture in London with an intense sense
of place, and I knew that to do this and remain original was a
formidable challenge. There are few cities in the world more
photographed than London, and to tell a story that would
resonate with a content-spoilt audience, we had to be at our
very best. There is nothing more disappointing than to creatively
underwhelm, particularly in my home city. My instinct was to go
back in time and play to the lore of the gritty post-war London of
the 1920s. The historic dockyards of Chatham offer a strong visual
canvas on which to tell stories, and I sensed that if we played with the
ambient light of the early evening and married that with old London
streetlights, we had a platform to build on. The Roaring Twenties in
the UK are remembered as a decade when women found equality
and their sexuality was celebrated. It was an era where grit and
glamour forged an unlikely alchemy. Choosing British supermodel
and actress Cara Delevingne, a quintessential London girl, as my
lead was one of the easier decisions of my career. Meanwhile, David
Gandy is my favourite male lead to work with – he always nails it.