The heist, the superhero and the spy

At 9.30am on Sunday the Louvre’s crown jewels were stolen by a group of thieves in a heist straight out of the movies. In broad daylight they accessed the building via a cherry picker, then used an angle grinder and power tools to break windows and enter.

In 7 minutes they were out of there with their loot.

French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez said it was the work of “an experienced team who had clearly scouted the location”.

No shit Sherlock! They’d scouted, strategised (probably for months), coordinated a team and equipment, and achieved impeccable timing.

Remind you of anything?

It reminds ME of those million dollar TV spots where you know the 1st AD is going to give you 10 minutes (if you’re lucky) to get a key visual. Or when you’re shooting a celeb and their PR agent’s given you 5 minutes, and counting (who’s had the countdown?) Or even those massive productions which involve months of pre production for a one or two day shoot.

Good photographers treat these jobs like a heist.

Tom Barnes, a British photographer I’ve been working with, has built a career around this kind of work. He arrives like some kind of superhero who saves the day, shoots the celeb in 10 minutes (or less- apparently his record is 4 seconds) and leaves the way he came (which might be in a chopper).

 

But those 10 minutes take weeks of meticulous planning (and it’s reflected in how he’s paid). He’s actually the most systems obsessed photographer I know.

And that is the secret.

Getting it all buttoned down starts right at the brief stage (think ‘Italian job’ where the gang are planning the gold bullion heist in Turin. They gather, go through logistics, assign jobs, and walk through how they’ll use diversion, traffic jams, Minis, etc.)

Treatments help you iron this stuff out too (yep I know you loathe them but they’re not just for the client).

Maybe you don’t need a sapphire necklace and earrings (worn by Napoleon’s stepdaughter Hortense, who became the queen of Holland, and which was also worn by the 19th-century queen Marie Amélie….)

But I’m going to hazard a guess that you probably want consistent work from clients who trust you implicitly and will pay big bucks so you can, I dunno, eat? Pay your mortgage?

And trust me, they will if they know you can deliver.