Daniel, an actor, writer and director, was one of the first people I approached to photograph in an environmental portrait.

I had been fascinated for some time about Arnold Newman‘s environmental portraits, as well as the set design set-ups in some of Annie Leibowitz‘s portraiture, so I set about approaching people who interested me in film, theatre and journalism to photograph in this way. Daniel was one of the first to respond.

After an initial meeting and conversation about his work, we decided to take the photograph outside the Royal Court Theatre stage door. I visited the theatre on days before to work out when the best light would hit and we agreed on a time to meet.

The big day came… and it was raining. It was cloudy and cold. All my predictions and preparations had gone out of the window. Daniel and I met, got the permission of the Royal Court to take the photo and I got to work quickly.

Maybe a touch too quickly: I raced through a number of set-ups with an aim to get us away from the location as soon as possible without getting soaked. Maybe I should have taken a little more time on some different set-ups, or tried a more sheltered location nearby? But, this was my first attempt and I was learning. And I was up for trying again.