In 1998 I worked on the Feature Film ‘Holy Smoke’ with the director Jane Campion. It was a three month production and I was employed to do all ‘Specials’ as well as the production stills. My approach was to predominantely use Polaroid stocks-Type 55, Type 59, and 665 as well as shooting Colour transperancy Sheet Film on a 5x4 Linhof and using a Medium Format 645 for everything else. Promotional material for films in this era were sets of 35mm dupe film transperancies so I chose to shoot only formats larger than 35mm and therefore the dupe film promotional material would be of superior quality.

The last three weeks of the production were shot on location in Rajasthan firstly in Delhi and then the Holy City of Pushkar. Most of the pictures in this post are portraits I took ‘off set’. Shooting polaroid stocks and giving the print to the portrait sitter and I retaining the negative to print later in a dark room.

A family who were living next to the Film Set of ‘Holy Smoke’ Old Delhi

Kate Winslet with Sam and the children of Old Delhi

I shot a lot of street portraits with my Linhof Flat Bed Field Camera

With Jane Campion on the last day of filming

On the day of departure I went to a temple overlooking Pushkar at dawn with one of the local Sadhu’s.

Jane Campion - Vanity Fair Session to promote ‘Portrait Of A Lady’ 1996

Jane Campion was another person I had an immeadiate affiliation with when we worked together on these portraits, which were to appear in ‘Vanity Fair’ and the magazine ‘Premiere’.

She told me of her future project and asked me if I would be interested in taking pictures on a feature film. I said of course as I’d like the experience and I felt the role of a photographer on a film needed to be enhanced instead of merely documenting the shot list.

We agreed and it was two years later that I got a very unexpected call to confirm dates and schedules for what was going to be a three month production.

First Day on set of ‘Holy Smoke’ shot in the Flinders Ranges South Australia

In Pre-Production we agreed to use polaroid large format stock which related to Jane’s previous film ‘The Piano’ Above is a polaroid positive (Type 55) which also produces a negative and these would be printed in a dark room at a later date.

As Kate was wearing books on her feet she had to be carried around in order to preserve her ‘shoes’.

There was a lot of real tension between Harvey and Kate during the production. Filming actually stopped for several days while they worked through their personal issues.

Jane’s father Richard Campion (13 December 1923 - 2 July 2013) was a theatre director who founded ‘The New Zealand Players’, New Zealand’s first professional theatre company. On this production (Holy Smoke) he worked as Jane’s personal assistant dur… — Jane’s father Richard Campion (13 December 1923 - 2 July 2013) was a theatre director who founded ‘The New Zealand Players’, New Zealand’s first professional theatre company. On this production (Holy Smoke) he worked as Jane’s personal assistant during the six weeks we were on location in the Flinders Ranges.

Jane made a cameo in the film when the band ‘The Angels’ perform in the pub scene.

Extras from the final scene which was cut entirely out of the film.

Jane with Harvey during the shooting in Sydney at Fox Studios