‘Can I have a mad one like Stephen, please… and can it be more so?’

Nic was incredibly driven, obsessed with his work 24/7 – it was a passion and something that de ned him as a person. He never cared about money; he just wanted to create the image he had envisaged in his head. He refused to work with stylists and creatives as he thought they were completely useless and ruined Hong Kong magazines by ripping o ideas. He thought they had no artistic ideas of their own and he held them in total contempt. To be frank, he was as awkward and pigheaded as you can get – he refused to be told how to take his images. Stylists were not allowed to guide the shoot in any way – they should just deliver the clothes and then get out. He was a true artist. We conceived ideas together, but it was Nic, once the idea was rmly xed in his head, who followed through to achieve his trademark wellpolished images.

is did mean that clients had to trust him, a radical concept in Hong Kong, which was unused to artistic creative madness. Clients were used to being told exactly what they would receive including poses and lighting, via Pinterest, which Nic abhorred. All of his ideas were unique. He created his visions as if they had to come out of his head or otherwise he would explode. Unlike many photographers, he was never interested in the money side, which frankly upset him. He wanted desperately to be appreciated for his work as an artist, and to be recognised for his deeply held beliefs. He constantly pushed subjects out of their comfort zone, persuading the rich and famous to believe in his vision and trust that he was not going to make them look foolish. In fact it became a ing: after photographing the amboyant billionaire Stephen Hung sitting on the oor between two cars, the following week we were due to shoot Jonathan Zeman. e rst thing he said was, “Can I have a mad one like Stephen, please… and can it be more so?”

Nic thought nothing of covering someone who was on the Tatler Rich List with our or wrapping them up in cling lm. He was unassuming but persuasive. He had an air of calm authority and a charisma that made everyone want to please him. He was not impressed by wealth or position and this was a huge help when dealing with people who were used to getting their own way. e classic image of Paul came from the idea that scissors are part of him, like the camera was an extension of Nic. We also thought his tattoo was superb and wanted to include it. We wanted our images to shock viewers, but also make them laugh. An image that shocks is memorable, but an image that also makes you smile has an even stronger impact. e Ovolo shower shot came about as we had become friendly with Girish Jhunjhnuwala, the hotel group’s owner, and he asked us to take some arty images of Ovolo for Art Month to show the creative side of the company. Nic was given a free hand, and of course he was not going to do headshots. So the plan was to give a surreal feel to all images: Girish taped onto a table; the manager jumping on a bed; and the besuited PR chap in the shower. Each image showed a di erent aspect of the hotel facilities while getting the viewer to both smile and look again. ey really tapped into the Ovolo vibe.

We met Paul Gerrard, the hair stylist, soon after arriving in Hong Kong in 2009. He wanted some creative photography for his salon and we clicked immediately. e rst set of images we did was quite conservative but we quickly progressed to more wild and mad ideas as the wine owed. We often had wine during shoots.

We did not have a studio and very little money, so we always compromised, using roof spaces, streets or anywhere that allowed us to be creative on a budget.

He had an air of calm authority and a charisma that made everyone want to please him.

It took over an hour to photograph Paul, and many days of Photoshop to create this image. Only one pair of scissors was used for the shoot, taken multiple times, so the work is half digital art.

We shot husband-and-wife restaurateurs Alan Lo and Yenn Wong for a Tatler cover. By now, the editors knew what they were letting themselves in for with our quirky sense of humour, so we reckoned that as Alan and Yen were quite young, they would be up for some fun.

We thought it would be amusing to photograph everything with a twist. Other images featured Alan smoking a leek at the bar, and Yenn taking a stu ed goat for a walk. Our shoots would always start o quite safe and progress to pure madness. e trick was to get to the madness quickly enough so the subject was not tired. Quite often, they would opt to stay later to get more fun images and were quite sad when the shoot was over. We did not allow behind-the-scenes pics, as we felt that they would give away some of the magic and not capture the nished image.

I like the custard pie shot as the use of space almost has a police line-up feel. e simplicity allows the pie to shine. We wanted Alan to show no emotion and Nic would have liked both of them to be serious but Yen had such a big smile, it was infectious.

In sum: Nic’s work was surreal, dark-humoured and obsessively wellcrafted. He refused to be guided by anyone or told what to do. He was stubborn and incredible rolled into one. He was charismatic and charming. And he could convince anyone to do anything. n