Putting yourself in the picture

I'm not sure quite why, but suddenly within days of my 57th birthday, I have become a focus of attention for several camera lenses. Surprised dear reader? Let me explain

A few Saturdays ago I attended "Surviving Actors" with fellow board member Anita Dobson to drum up some support for the actors Centre and to lead a seminar on how to sustain a career. We had a good day, and on a sort of royal progress around the stands at the exhibition, we encountered one Mark Davies who runs a company called M.A.D photography. He's incredibly engaging, and he offered me a free photo shoot.  I have the sort of face that has the same success in its relationship with the camera as Boris Johnson has with the bendy bus, but on this occasion I was more than happy to take up his kind offer.

How strange then that only hours later an offer of another free photo shoot should pop into my twitter messages from Greg Photo (sic), or @gregphotocom as you will find him listed among the Twitterati. Given the fact that I will thought that size was important, and two freebies are better than one, I accepted his kind offer too.

Both sessions were very different experiences. I'm not someone who is at ease with the still camera. Despite several thousand pounds worth of work on my dental accoutrements, when my mouth is open you do not see my teeth, just a gaping black hole, so I'm very conscious that in front of the camera I should, unlike in life, keep my mouth firmly closed. As far as I'm concerned I have a rather fat round face, and if one more person tells me that the camera puts at least ten pounds on you, I will force the same amount of sweet and sickly confectionary down their smug little throat. However head shots are absolutely key to one's life as an actor. It's how you say hello to casting directors, directors, producers, and the public before you ever meet them.

I don't ever choose my own headshot. I leave it up to my agent. She is the person that has to sell me, and the picture that they choose is one they have to be happy with. We don't see ourselves as other people see us. Every morning in the bathroom mirror, I see someone who could give George Clooney a run for his money. Yet people have also been known to remark on my uncanny likeness to the comedian Benny Hill.

So I leave the final choice of any picture in the very capable hands of my agent. She knows what she wants that photograph to do, and she knows the type of things that she sells me into. Her choice will end up on the desks or in the inboxes of lots of people and it has to catch their eye.

In the predigital days, casting a play would still involve hundreds of envelopes containing hundreds of photographs being delivered by a world-weary postman to my flat for me to sift through. The opening of the envelope and the turning around of the photo was a key moment. Did the photograph invite to you to meet the person? There's a great deal of debate as to how a headshot should look. Lots of people think it should look neutral to leave open lots of possibilities for casting. In line with my thoughts on auditioning, I think we all have limited possibilities in casting, but need to know what they are and I think the photograph should lead people in this direction. It should tell them something about who you are, and above all, it should get you into the room to meet the people.

Lots of young graduates are constrained by the fact that some drama schools insist on them all having their head shots taken by the same photographer. The result is they look like a set of inmates from some very high-class penal institution. Even without this diktat being issued by their drama college, there tends to be a conformity in graduate pictures in that they are all trying to look like "an actor". Possibly they are not yet an actor. There's a school of thought that says you are not an actor until you start being paid as an actor, so perhaps this sort of photograph is trying to convince people of their credibility.

Yet what will welcome me in a picture is a smile. Not necessarily a full beam toothy grin - something I'd have great difficulty in managing anyway, but at the very least a smile in the eyes that says "get to know me better".

It's not easy to achieve and you do need to be guided by the photographer. Most actors choose their photographer because they have seen some of the photographers other head shots and like how they look. A good enough reason.

One of my sessions this week took nearly 2 hours over three locations, and a great deal of conversation. The other was fast, furious, lasted around 45 minutes, and was very contained. Both of them produced good results.

For me, Mark probably had the edge as he gave me two hours of his time, and sat down with me to explore at the beginning of the session what it was I felt that I wanted from the photographs. Greg, who used to work in fashion has a clearer idea of what he wants from the session, which of course would be excellent, if you felt that you need a lot of guidance. A lot of the pictures in Greg's session were taken when I was unawares, and it think that shows in the picture. I look off guard in an unengaging way. That doesn't suit me, though it may do for others.

Yet Greg does an amazing intro offer for £30 which give you a half hour shoot and one picture. You can buy others. Great if you are a bit strapped for cash at the end of your final year at college, and yet want to break out of the college picture mould.

They both do brilliant deals for students and are absolutely well worth checking out. I'm hoping to get both of them to come into The Actors Centre, not only to do a shoot, but to work with some small groups of actors about how you do a headshot shoot as an actor.

As with anything you pays your money and they takes your picture, but make sure you get the most out of the session and that involves going into it with an idea as to what you want.

The photographer is a professional and knows what he is doing, but you can and should have input into the session. Look at the pictures as you go along and talk to him. He's there to do the best job he can and use his experience to get you the picture that is right for you.

You wouldn't go into a rehearsal knowing everything you were going to do and not change it even when directed. Think of your session the same way. The photographer is your director. Work with him and you might be surprised by the results. 

It is part of getting to know who you are, and who you might be.

Lots of young actors think they can play everything. They can't. It doesn't make them any less good or talented, but it does make them less focused.

Use that photo shoot to define that image, and know what you're selling

 These are the pictures Mark Davis chose from his shoot and which he has used on Twitter and Facebook.

These are from Greg Photo. Excellent too and hard to choose between them