I had the pleasure of photographing Richard Attenborough a few years ago in Los Angeles at Sony Studios. I photographed him for the film Juraissic Park, he won an Oscar for directing Ghandi.
My dad was a huge fan I remember telling my father that I was about to photograph Richard Attenborough and my dad jokingly said hopefully he will remember your name at the end of the photo session. It was the first time I had heard the story about Sir Richard. So that is how my conversation started when I met him.
I remember the light being perfect for what I needed for the portrait.
I had just started using a plastic film camera. The magazine loved the look of the photos when using this plastic action camera,but you had to have a lot of movement when using it.
I remember telling Richard Attenborough exactly this and he was a true professional. He asked what should we do ? and I jokingly said how about we start with some breakdancing. To my shock he immediately started dancing, seconds later we both burst into laughter, I would hardly call it breakdancing and in the same sentence saying you’re looking more like a boxer. And this is exactly what we did not many people can say they have sparred with Richard Attenborough, I have and the good thing was he did remember my name when we said goodbye.