on the sand by the sea

 

------------------ [Jerry Hall:  My life in pictures.  Quadrille -- 2010.] --------------------------

Hiro

Hiro was a great artist, and a lovely man who had started out as Avedon's assistant and we worked together a lot along with the Japanese hairdresser Suga, who always worked with him.

Everything about the way Hiro worked reflected his Japanese culture.  His studio was incredibly organised and minimalist, and his work was very technical and beautifully crafted.  His assistants didn't have anything to do but hand him something because he knew all the technicalities and he prepared it all himself.

        He had a lovely personality; sweet, gentle and very giggly.

I'm surprised he's not more celebrated as he took such wonderful pictures -- elegant, clean, with startling colour and often with unexpected elements.

        We went to the Caribbean island of St. Martin to do a campaign for the Japanese designer Hanae Mori, where Hiro took this incredible photo of me, using a camera lens that NASA had developed.

        It was a huge close-up of my head, as I lay on the sand by the sea, looking like a giant sculpture from Easter Island.

        There was no retouching then, and only someone of 18 could get away with having their pores magnified like that!  It was later used as a poster and in a calendar.

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