#gemma levine

[davidhudson]

Happy 82nd, Ben Kingsley.

1986 photo by Gemma Levine.

[lardedallwithsweetflowers]

SINÉAD CUSACK & JEREMY IRONS  photographed by Gemma Levine for FACES OF BRITISH THEATRE (1990)

[sangfroidwoolf]

Judi Dench by Gemma Levine, 1986.

[transit-art-lounge]

Gemma Levine, photograph of the sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986)

[goshinoghetto]

.Helena Bonham Carter photographed by Gemma Levine, 1985

[almaviva90]

'Thomas Allen, the virtuoso opera singer, sat for me for twenty minutes. As I finished the session I asked him which opera he would be performing that evening at the Royal Opera House: ‘Puccini’s La bohème,’ he said. ‘Would you sing an aria for me?’ I pleaded. He cleared his throat several times, took a deep breath, and broke into ‘O soave fanciulla’. His voice was electrifying. The acoustics in my small studio were adequate but, with the full strength of the baritone’s voice, I thought the walls might cave in.

Within minutes there was a knock at my door. A neighbour from the top floor impatiently exclaimed, ‘Could you turn the volume down, it’s disturbing me, the cat and the other neighbours!’ Thomas and I burst out laughing. He said, having made that impact, he would perform especially heartily that night.' 

– Gemma Levine, Just One More… : A Photographer’s Memoir

I'm a huge fan of Gemma Levine's portraits and when I saw this picture and the accompanying anecdote, I just had to get her book. This is simply marvellous and Sir Tom's expression fits the story so well!

[captainsunbeam]

19-year-old Helena Bonham Carter photographed by Gemma Levine in 1985

[edithshead]

Helena Bonham Carter by Gemma Levine, 1985