When I Was A Photographer - When Cryptogee Met Kate

Strictly speaking this wasn't the first time I met Kate Moss, that day was around a couple of years or so before this photograph was taken.

Thinking back on that meeting, I realise that's why Kate was always so relaxed with me. It was because of my strange disease of can't-recognise-celebrity-itis, seriously, I've been in rooms with some people who could be considered pretty bloody famous.

However I have this strange affliction whereby I simply don't recognise them. I'm not doing it to be cool and aloof, I'm just crap at associating a face I'm seeing in real life to one I've seen off the telly.

This is rather useful when meeting famous people because it means that;

a) I don't get starstruck.

and

b) They relax in my presence because I'm not fawning over them.

The Party

So one Sunday I'm walking down the road, can't remember where I was going, and my friend pulls up in a little white mini.

At the time he was going out with Jade Jagger, daughter of the legendary Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger. They asked me if I wanted to come to a drinks/party they were going to, not far from where we were.

"Sure" I said, and off we went.

Once at the party I started chatting to this girl who was really cool, I kind of thought she was pretty, but most of all she had a great vibe and we were chatting away for ages.

Suddenly it became apparent that the alcohol had run out, so the girl I had been chatting to offered to go on a booze run to the local shops and went around getting donations, I gave her my ten pounds and off she went.

My friend sauntered over and asked if I was enjoying the party.

"Yeah, it's great, that girl's cool isn't she? She kind of reminds me of someone, um . . . Oh yeah! She sort of looks like Kate Moss."

Friend belly laughing in my face.

"What?"

"That is Kate Moss"

"Oh, right." Kind of wish I still didn't know . . .

The Shoot

So back to the picture, as I mentioned, this was taken about a couple of years or so after I first met Kate. We had met a few times since and she always remembered my name, which both impressed and flattered me in equal parts.

By now Jade Jagger was going out with someone else who had also become a good friend of mine, Dan Macmillan, grandson to the ex British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan.

Dan had decided to try his hand at photography and arranged a shoot with all his famous friends. The theme was Alice In Wonderland.

Lizzie Jagger was to play Alice, her sister Jade was to be the Cheshire Cat, and Kate Moss was playing the White Rabbit.

Even though I was assisting on the shoot, I still had time to snap a few piccies of my own. This shot was taken as we were waiting to set up the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, with Philip Treacy the famous milliner playing the Mad Hatter.

As you can see Jade and Kate where holding court, next to them is Hardy Blechman owner of the clothing label Maharishi (he was playing the Caterpillar). Then Giles Curties who was an ex Cerutti model and art director and a stylist whom I did not know.

I love the composition of the photo and the moment, I look at it and remember it as if it were yesterday, when in truth it was around 20 odd years ago.

The Food Fight

Anita Pallenberg who sadly passed away last year, was a famous actress in the 1960s and 70s, and famously hung out with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful. She, if memory serves me well, I believe played the Queen Of Hearts.

Anyway, as soon as Anita saw the piles of cakes and tarts we had arranged for the 'tea party' she came up to me and whispered in my ear;

"Food fight."

So that was it, around she went until she had whispered those words into everybody's ears . . .

As the end of the shoot was called, BOOM! It went off, cakes, cream buns, ice-cream and other unidentified bits of food were flying everywhere.

Instead of joining in, I ducked the missiles and grabbed my camera and got this shot, which is my favourite, of Dan Macmillan just after he has been hit with a cream bun or some-such thing, and is preparing to retaliate with what looks like some natural yogurt!

To this day, it still makes me smile and reminisce about that wonderful sunny afternoon.

WHAT DO YOU THINK; YOU LIKE?

@Cryptogee