Those who have been carefully studying the credits of U.K. magazine photoshoots and fashion campaigns over the last few years will likely have come across the name Pip. The London-based photographer, who hails from Yorkshire in the north of England, has quietly become a go-to for high-end brands and glossy publications, working with the likes of Prada, Dior, Bulgari and Louis Vuitton and capturing a who’s who of contemporary stars including Paul Mescal, Anya Taylor-Joy, Andrew Scott, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Will Sharpe, Milly Alcock and many more.
But Pip, whose real name is Ben Seed — Pip is a nickname, coming from his surname, that he’s had since he was a child — has now ventured down that oft-traveled path from photography to filmmaking. “Twain” marks his debut, a short film he wrote and directed that moves away from the more glamorous fashion world he’s used to and into grittier, social realist territories, flitting back and forth in time to unravel a story of domestic abuse and tragedy. The film’s title is a nod to Mark Twain, whose book “Life on the Mississippi” is read to the two brothers at the plot’s center during their childhood.
The film also stars — in two main roles — Éanna Hardwicke, the Irish actor whose profile has shot up over the last year thanks to his BAFTA-nominated performance in BBC drama “The Sixth Commandment” (he was also named a Berlin Shooting Star). But Hardwicke isn’t the only big name involved the film. Edgar-Jones — who happens to be Pip’s partner — is also among the producers (and helped him cast his lead).
As Pip explains, while moving away from being a “lone ranger” on a photoshoot to part of a collaborative team on a film may be a steep learning curve, his previous profession gives him a distinct advantage, especially when it comes to signing up not just star talent but Oscar-winning heads of department. Below, he shares more about the process behind “Twain” and his ambition to direct a feature film.
What was the idea behind making a short and where did “Twain” come from?
It was born out of a desire to build on my photography. For years, I’ve always loved films. I actually originally wanted to make films in the first place. When I was 17 and growing up, I was a sucker for Ken Loach and Shane Meadows and that miserable, social realism. I really remember watching Shane Meadow’s “This Is England” for the first time. I love cinema, like “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter,” but I remember “This Is England” blowing my mind and having this realization that people make films about regular people and everyday issues. I guess it said a lot about the narrow-minded community I grew up in.
So my love of film extends back then, but you can’t really make films on your own, they’re really expensive. So I started photography as a creative outlet. But people started paying me and suddenly I could move to London and make a career of it. And it all built and built and went so well, but now I feel like I’m at the stage that I’m ready to scratch that itch and that I’ve actually got something to say. With photography, there’s a limit to what you can say and do, but with film you’ve got all these creative tools. So it’s all about the desire to evolve and progress creatively.
So this is your first short film?
I’ve directed music videos and commercials, things that relate to my photography world. So I’m certainly used to film sets and directing people. But this is the first time I’ve put pen to paper and actually written something and seen it through the whole creative stage.
How was it making that leap?
An amazing experience. I’ve learned so much. But I think both the hardest thing and best thing about it is how much more collaborative it is than photography, where you’re very much a lone wolf and have almost complete creative control. Your subjects mostly just want to be told exactly what to do. But going into film you have to be able to delegate and let other people do their work. And for someone that’s used to that level of control, it’s quite hard sometimes.
Your partner Daisy Edgar-Jones is a producer on the film. How involved was she? Was it something you developed together?
She was really involved. But not in terms of the source material — that’s something I just wrote myself. She read it and really encouraged me to do it. But she was involved massively as a producer. It’s a short film, so we were a very small crew of people that made it and everyone was mucking in. Daisy was a producer amongst three other producers, but she was also making sure the crew were fed, painting sets with the rest of us. She brought so much of her experience on set it to it.
Éanna Hardwicke is something of a fast-rising and in-demand star at the moment and was BAFTA-nominated earlier this year for the TV series “The Sixth Commandment.” How did you cast him? Was he somebody already in your circle?
Daisy knew him. He was in “Normal People.” I’d written the script, Daisy read it and Éanna was the first person she thought of. So I went away and watched his whole back catalog and was just blown away by his range and technical ability. In this, he’s switching between two characters really rapidly and it’s a very difficult thing for an actor to do, and when you’re working on a short film and money’s tight, to have something with that technical ability is just amazing.
Given that you’ve photographed a lot of actors and you have connections in the industry through your work and Daisy, does that make it much easier for you to then reach out to get them involved in a project like this?
Completely. It’s the only way we could have got this project off the ground really. Our heads of department were incredibly talented. You know, the hair and makeup designer were Oscar winners for “Poor Things.” Nadia Stacey’s the makeup designer and we’d just worked together on a commercial photography campaign and I showed her the script and she was just like, “Sign me up.” So yeah, having that network really helps. And I think there’s also just a lot of interesting people who like my photography and are interested to see what I’m going to do with film and want to be a part of that. And that’s such a nice thing.
And you’ve also created a brand, so to speak, that can very easily crossover in film.
Yeah, that’s right. When people like you and like your work, it goes a long way and it’s a lot easier than starting completely cold. Also, I’ve had a lot of experience working with actors on sets. Even with photography, you are directing, so you know the dynamics, how to treat people and how to get the best out of them.
So is the aim to use “Twain” as a stepping stone to make more film projects, perhaps even features?
Definitely. I’d love to continue with that. I’m currently writing a feature film and developing the original idea for a limited series as well. So “Twain” is the first small step in that direction. But I’m definitely ambitious to tell more stories.
Could you see filmmaking take over from photography? There are obviously some very famous directors who started out as photographers.
I think I would always love to do both. I’ll always love photography — it’s such a part of who I am and my sort of artistic expression. But I think that it would be really nice to have a balance between those two things. Film is wonderful and so exciting, but it’s incredibly slow and hard to get things made and greenlit and developed. So there’s a quite a nice balance between those two worlds in some ways. I really enjoy the solitude of writing and developing and creating characters or stories by myself, but I also love shooting for magazines and advertisements and collaborating with other people on short-term projects.
