The photographer

HUGH STEWART

Most of the week, you’ll find Hugh Stewart behind a high-tech digital camera, snapping o hundreds of images of the likes of Cate Blanchett or Leonardo DiCaprio. At the speed of light, they appear on a nearby computer screen, as a team of publicist, stylist and make-up artist gather around to critique and tweak. So in his rare down-time, Hugh goes old-school, photographing elegant, pared-back images of flowers with a wooden plate camera (pictured on the table beside Hugh).

“It’s the only thing I still shoot on film,” he reveals. “It means you have to really slow down the process, look closely and make more decisions before you shoot.” And he says there are still labs around which will process the five by four (inch) sheet film.

“When I shoot flowers, it’s just me and the camera, and the flowers don’t talk back,” he quips.

“There is a real tradition for photographers to shoot flowers and I like the di erent process of still-lifes.”