Roberts Balanas

This image is part of a series created in London using a completely improvised setup. It was late in the evening, and with no particular plans on sight, we decided to improvise a photoshoot.

At the time, I had no lighting equipment with me apart from my camera and a hot-shoe flash, so I suggested to Roberts that we build our own light modifiers. We took one of his many umbrellas—this was London, after all—and covered it with aluminium foil to create a reversed reflective umbrella that would soften and redirect the flash. We then placed a bedsheet in front of it to reduce the light by approximately one stop and soften it even further. Almost like a Broncolor Para 222 as you can see..

On the opposite side, we positioned a white mattress to reflect some of the light back into the shadowed side of his face. The whole shoot was supported by a lot of trust and high hopes.

We made the most of what we had, and I will always cherish the memory of creating these images. We had a great deal of fun doing it.