Pianologues photoshoot with Will Pickvance

It barely seems a year since my photoshoot for Will Pickvance’s festival show, Pianomorphosis, but a year it has been. In that time, Will’s become a father for the first time, toured his show to Asia, and devised the next show in his series – Pianologues. And I was delighted to be asked back by Will to create an image for that new show.

Will Pickvance

As is our usual collaborative style, Will and I had a drink in the bar one evening, as he explained the premise of his new show. I listened, and started to develop some imagery in my mind. Pianologues picks up from where Pianomorphosis ended – telling the story of Will’s life and how it’s been intertwined with his piano. From being a place to retreat to when he’s needed solace, to providing him with a source of income as a professional musician. Reflecting Will’s own life changes recently, Pianomonologues is more reflective, more grown up, but still with Will’s warm charm and humour. Will popped in to the studio to do a couple of tests and we ended up shooting the whole set in an hour. I love working so freely

Will looking like a Dutch artist

In these images, I wanted the viewer to really focus on Will’s face. But I also wanted to acknowledge the other performer in his show – the piano. With that in mind, Will grabbed some old keys he had in his studio and we started playing around with them. I think we landed on some really striking images for the show. Intriguing and beautiful, modern, but still with a nod to classic iconography.

Photograph of Will Pickvance musician extraordinaire for his 2017 show Pianologues