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Legendary stills photographer Keith Hamshere reveals the stories from his remarkable career alongside his iconic photography, featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest movies – from Indiana Jones to Star Wars to James Bond
Keith Hamshere started his entertainment career as a child actor after winning a junior TV talent competition, which in turn led to a nine-month stint working with Max Bygraves on Singing Down the Lane at the London Palladium.
Alas, child actors do eventually grow up, and keen to add a second string to his employment chances, Keith developed his interest in photography, which resulted in him becoming a society photographer at the heart of Swinging London, and in particular working for Baron Studios in the 1960s.
When In Search of the Castaways unit photographer Johnny Jay began working on a new film directed by Stanley Kubrick in the mid-1960s, he realized he had a mammoth assignment ahead and needed a reliable assistant. Recalling Keith’s fascination with photography and his growing popularity, he asked his young friend if he would be interested in helping out on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Keith did not need to think about his answer, and in fact spent the next two years on the production learning his craft, earning the fond respect of Kubrick, and was soon trusted to run the photographic department, shooting large format images for animation and special effects – all done for real, in camera, long before CGI was even heard of.
Following his stellar work on 2001, Keith went on to become an established stills photographer and was in great demand on such titles as Battle of Britain, Barry Lyndon, Young Winston and Rosebud, before embarking on the first of eight James Bond assignments, The Spy Who Loved Me.
Along with his Bond films – three with Roger Moore, both of Timothy Dalton’s and all four of Pierce Brosnan’s adventures – Keith was also asked to work on other legendary franchises: with Steven Spielberg on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; George Lucas on the three Stars Wars prequels; Superman II and III, along with other Hollywood blockbusters such as Clash of the Titans, Willow, Man on Fire, Patriot Games, Shadowlands, The Mummy, Spy Game and, shortly before retiring, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.
Keith has helped create some of the most iconic images from some of the biggest movies ever made. He eagerly embraced innovative technology and was one of the first unit photographers to adapt to the digital age. He also pioneered in ‘Virtual Reality’ and developed and produced 360-degree virtual movie sets, which provided amazing interactive content for film studio executives.
In Life Through an Aperture, Keith Hamshere shares his fascinating tales of rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in Hollywood, alongside with his incredible images.
