‘He’s in his dressing room, minutes before going on stage as a panto dame. “Snap away,” he said. “Whatever you like. You don’t need to ask.” So I felt free to get stuck in’
Ian and I met seven years ago when our mutual friend Alan Cumming sat us next to each other at a dinner party. We hit it off and Ian invited me to join his quiz team the following week at the Grapes, his pub in east London. I’ve been going ever since. Our team name changes every week. There’s another team, called the Pirates of Men’s Pants, who tend to win, but we beat them maybe once a month. Doing the pub quiz regularly fits with Ian’s whole way of life, which is about making time to have fun. We’ve become good friends: we go to the theatre, or go dancing. He’s hilarious: his timing is always on point, but his humour is never at other people’s expense.
I think of portraiture as a collaboration, so it’s better if you know the person, otherwise there’s a risk you can project something of yourself on to them. Ian has allowed me to photograph him casually many times. For the first time, he was draped in lots of material from a photographic backdrop – Ian said the picture should have been titled Camp – and there was another where he was dressed as Ivor Novello.
