A Moment With… Gerrard Gethings

Renowned animal portrait photographer Gerrard Gethings has a rare skill of capturing the individual personalities of his subjects in an honest and compelling way. Combining his talent for art and a love of nature, Gerrard learnt his craft assisting iconic fashion photographer, Terry O’Neill. However, it was his Border Terrier Baxter who inspired him to make animals his muse.

Taking a moment to chat to TMC, Gerrard talks about his dream collaboration, reveals that cats are his most diva subjects and admits he has a love-hate relationship with social media.

When did you first take up photography?
I’ve been working in photography for 20 years. The first ten were spent assisting Terry O’Neill, who sadly passed away a few weeks ago. The latter ten working solely for myself. I pretty much took it up professionally when I got my dog, Baxter. I used him as a Guinea pig in the early days. He’s incredibly patient and also rather handsome.

What drew you to this particular medium and in particular the subject matter of animals?
I was always interested in photography, but when I first moved to London it was to be a painter. I studied Fine Art at Sheffield University and moved down here in 1997. I chanced upon a cheap studio in Mayfair, above a shop called Tomas Goode and Co. This was something that could still happen in 1997. I had Sophie Reece Jones (now Sophie Wessex) below, Terry O’Neill next door and Russian ballerinas in the flat above. My friend, who worked for Terry, was moving abroad. One day he popped his head round the door and asked if I’d like to work for him. I said yes and this was really the start of my career in photography. Terry’s studio was the social hub of the building. It was a neutral space where everyone met for a cup of tea and a gossip. It was a lovely place to be and I learned a lot. Terry treated everyone the same. He was as charming with my mum as he was with Joan Collins, who we would regularly meet at Doug Hayward’s place on Mount Street. The world of Terry O’Neill and photography became very enticing. He was from a working class family like me and he’d achieved a lot. He made it all seem possible. Working for him was the start of a serious interest in photography but it wasn’t until I started shooting animals that everything clicked.

I am currently working on a follow up to Do You Look Like Your Dog. The next one involves cats, which basically means it’s been a nightmare. Cats are a thousand times more difficult to photograph than dogs. If they’re not feeling it (which let’s face it, they’re not ) you can’t convince them.

What projects are you currently working on and what does 2020 look like for you?
I am currently working on a follow up to Do You Look Like Your Dog. The next one involves cats, which basically means it’s been a nightmare. Cats are a thousand times more difficult to photograph than dogs. If they’re not feeling it (which, let’s face it, they’re not ) you can’t convince them. I’ve been working on this project for 10 months and it has been incredibly challenging. The plan was to put together 28 days shooting but in the end we shot 32, because on four of the days we achieved no results. The models refused to come out of their dressing rooms (under the sofa/bed/coffee table). The finished results will be published in August this year. I have a dog book coming out at the same time. I also produced a campaign for Milka which will go live this month. We shot a bunch of cows in the Alps and the post production is just about finished. Not all my projects this year involve animals and I have just been offered a lovely commission involving 25 drag queens. This will shoot in April. A nice change after all those cats.

What is your biggest challenge as an artist?
It certainly isn’t doing the work. That’s the fun part. The tricky bit is getting commissioned. I know lots of picture editors and they receive hundreds of emails from photographers searching for work every week. Most of the photographers are really good too. So who do they take a chance on? It’s a risky business taking on a new photographer because if they don’t perform, the picture editor is in trouble with the editor in chief. I suppose the bottom line is, you’ve got to make friends with lots of people and be nice. Eventually, it will make things easier.

What’s the best piece of advice you have been given as a photographer?
Years ago someone told me that you had to love your subject, and I think that this is very true. If you really want to be a photographer, you’re going to spend an awful lot of time with the subjects. I’ve always loved being around animals and so the job never feels like work for me. I’ve flirted with the idea of being a fashion photographer, or celebrity portrait photographer. I have lots of friends do this and it seems very glamorous, particularly on social media. The problem is that I don’t speak fashion, and I feel very uneasy around ego’s. I just wouldn’t be very good at shooting these subjects. On fashion jobs, when the models ask, what would you like me to do? I think to myself, “ I have absolutely no idea.” It’s different with animals. It’s very organic and instinctive. There’s a whole physical conversation going on. The animals never ask questions and I never have to worry if they are bored, because if they are, they fall asleep.

What’s your favourite animal to photograph and why?
I like photographing birds. It’s always surprising how beautiful they are and it is an excuse to get close to them. Holding a barn owl is like a religious experience. They are impossibly perfect. Most birds are when you really look at them. Pigeons and starlings are incredibly colourful in the right light. Birds are always immaculate too. There is something very appealing about wild critters that manage to look like they just stepped out of a salon 24/7, even though they probably live in a bush.

Who inspires you?
I think we all take inspiration from everywhere. My boy inspires me with his constant questions. Music inspires me. Reading. I love paint: Anselm Kiefer, Cy Twombly, Antoni Tapies, and Hughie O’Donoghue are a big influence for colour and texture. Anything that snaps me into being in the moment. I have a large collection of photography books and I often turn to these. If it’s technical plagiarism I’m after I may look at Tim Flach; for human portraits it’s Avedon. If I have to choose a favourite it’s Don McCullin. He is in a league all of his own. He managed to create images more perfect than I could ever hope to achieve whilst lying in a ditch and being shot at. I’d love to take a photograph of Don McCullin.

Do approach a private commission differently to a photoshoot for a commercial project?
There are way more moving parts in commercial projects. More questions to answer and slightly higher expectations. Not from me but from the client. They are more experienced. There are always way more people in the room too, on a commercial job. This can be distracting for the animals. I’m often surprised just how many people show up to a magazine or PR shoot when there are dogs involved. People who never go on shoots find any excuse to be there. The accountant and editors PA will show up. They want to play with the dogs, which is lovely, but it can really slow things down. I shot a PR campaign for a dog vitamin brand recently and I counted 18 people from the agency, not including the dog handlers. I had to have my assistant build a wall of polly boards so that the dogs couldn’t see the crowd when they were on set. Private commissions are more intimate and always relaxed. The approach to achieving the shots is the same in both instances but the conditions are very different.

Do you think the culture of social media and the fast paced world we live in, has changed the photography landscape and storytelling for influencers and brands?
It’s changed everything, in positive and negative ways. For someone like me, shooting a lot of private commissions, it’s been extremely useful. It gets my work out there really efficiently, and with algorithms being what they are it can knock on doors that you didn’t even know existed. Relationships are formed in quite a gentle way. It’s a lot easier to email a commissioning editor if you know they’ve been following you on Instagram for a few years. The whole thing is a bit weird though. Being judged by how many followers you have. This can’t be positive. Social media brings in lots of work for me, but I would gladly shut the whole system down to make a better future for my boy. When I was growing up my dad told me that one if his biggest fears was that I would get tattoos or wear jewellery, so I got my nose pierced. One of my biggest fears is that Jarvis grows up wanting to be an influencer.

What would be your dream collaboration?
I love shooting large animals. They are unpredictable and require a different set of skills to those used when shooting pets. My recent campaign for Milka, meant creating studio portraits of their cows. We had to shoot on location in the alps, but the shots had to look like we were in a studio. It was really tricky but very satisfying. I would love to collaborate with any major brands that have animals in their logo: Shooting pumas for Puma, bulls for Lamborghini, bats for Bacardi, jaguars for Jaguar, horses for Ferrari, crocodiles for Lacoste or most of all, pandas for the World Wildlife Fund. I’ve always wanted to photograph a panda. It’s the number one creature on my photographic bucket list.

Follow Gerrard and his animal antics on Instagram or see more work on his website