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A photographer who helped propel Kate Moss to stardom is offering Londoners the chance to feel like a supermodel.
Tony McGee, who took the first professional shots of Moss after she signed at Storm model agency at the age of 14, has opened a studio in Harrods Urban Retreat to give the public the celebrity photo-shoot treatment.
The experience includes a makeover and hair styling followed by a shoot with the photographer, who has worked with Nicole Kidman, Tina Turner, David Bowie and Eva Herzigova.
He said: “People are terrified of the camera. They find it intrusive, invasive, imposing. They think it's about freeze-framing flaws but this is all about proving anybody can look good in a picture.”
The studio in Knightsbridge has been open for two weeks but McGee said it was already very busy. Prices start from £595.
“We had a pregnant woman,” he said. “She felt fat and frumpy and really needed a boost. Those pictures were stunning. We also had a lady whose husband had died the year before. That pain and loss translated into something exquisite on film.”
McGee, who lives in Primrose Hill with wife Sandy and their sons Jack, 28, and Max, 14, said he got a huge sense of satisfaction photographing “ordinary people”.
He added: “Celebrities know how to pose, they know which side of their face is the most photogenic. They are not afraid and they have done it a million times. Someone with no experience in front of the camera needs coaxing, they will be shy, reserved, they do not know you and they will feel embarrassed.
“My job is not just to picture them, it's to relate to them, study them, talk to them and get the best out of them.” McGee's 40-year career started at the age of 14 and by 21 his images had appeared on 25 magazine covers.
The 54-year-old said: “It was sensational to shoot Kate Moss when she was just starting out. She was terribly shy but very beautiful.”
