The portraits of Dr Andy Gotts MBE are intimate and quintessentially human. Entirely unfiltered and unedited, his pictures have a raw energy to them. Each possesses a striking sense of the photographer’s art blending with the personality of his celebrity subject. Yes, celebrities, because Andy Gotts is one of the very few photographers who specialises in famous faces instead of a specific branch of the entertainment world. He admits a slight preference for working with actors, because, as he says, ‘I think there is a part of me that wishes I were an actor.’ He also proposes that the secret of his success is ‘eighty per cent luck, ten per cent alcohol and ten percent rude jokes’, but it is safe to say that his ‘luck’ doesn’t come by chance. Dr Gotts makes his own luck through a unique blend of his artistic sensibility, naturally amiable personality and a preparation process that doesn’t exhaust his subjects with endless styling and makeup. His photoshoots are quick and concise. Just a chat between the photographer and the subject. Lots of laughter and just a few ‘clicks’ in the meantime. As he puts it, ‘Fifty per cent of the work is done by the other person. It’s half me and half them: we meet in the middle, and we create something.’ In that unique ‘twilight zone’ of the middle, Gotts’s works reveal celebrities in a familiar, almost intimate light. ‘This is how my daughter sees me’, said Kate Moss, and it will take you but a glance at his images to understand why. Since the sessions are so private, these otherwise public figures have the opportunity to be seen as they really are through the honest eye of the camera. In this era of retouching, where nonconformity and signs of age are promptly concealed, these pictures – so powerful and realistic – manage to capture the essence of these icons. At once a celebrity, an artist’s muse, and a human being. It is humbling to think how many stars of the past and present have been immortalised by Dr Gotts’s camera. For example his remarkable photo of Tony Curtis. This is the last professional portrait taken of the actor before he passed away in 2010. Gotts had been trying to photograph Curtis for many years: when he finally got in touch with the actor and was given an appointment in Las Vegas for the next day, he was overjoyed... until, late in the evening, he received an unexpected call from Curtis. The actor was still looking forward to the appointment but had a very special request: ‘Can you make me look like an icon, just one more time?’ And that’s exactly what Gotts did. By painting an American flag on Curtis’s face and with a close-up in a dim, almost mysterious light, he captured a portrait that is intimate and awe-inspiring at the same time. The gleam in Curtis’s eyes, staring right at the observer, expresses all the dignity of the giants of Hollywood’s Golden Era. The soul of a Hollywood star is seized in a photo that doesn’t gloss over reality, that doesn’t hide the passing of the years. The day after the photoshoot, Tony Curtis’s wife, Jill Vandenberg Curtis, showed the picture to her husband, who had collapsed that morning and was hospitalised. He stared at the picture – intensely, silently, his eyes locked on it for minutes on end – and said: ‘This is the best photo ever taken of me.’ Tony Curtis, the American Prince, died that same day. Not only did Gotts take the last picture of him and grant his wish, but he also took his favourite photo right before the end. Gotts’ work becomes an even more powerful when we remember that, behind every picture, there’s an anecdote. Unique narratives hide behind a smile or a tear. It’s this inner likeability, this glow from within, the spontaneous laugh or the timid smile that Andy Gotts captures with his lens. Gotts received an MBE in 2012 for his contribution to photography. "Andy Gotts has taken more photographs of A-List celebrities than Annie Leibovitz, David Bailey and Lord Snowdon combined...” -Stephen Fry (actor/writer) “Andy Gotts is the Ansel Adams of faces!” -Ringo Starr (musician) “Andy Gotts is to photography as to what Lowry was to painting.” -Brian Sewell (art critique) "He [Andy Gotts] is not a glamour photographer like Mario Testino for example, nor does he create scenarios and devise settings and single-moment dramas like Lord Snowdon. His forte is the absolutely direct black and white portrait, full-on, sometimes grainy and remorseless in the detailing of complexion, sometimes mischievously witty and unexpected, always completely unforgettable." -Stephen Fry (actor/writer) “Andy Gotts is a genius of his craft.” -Tom Hanks (actor) “Being photographed by Andy Gotts is a great experience. Not only are you meeting an expert in the technology and art of photography. But you are meeting someone who really caress about you and wants to look after you. He wants to present you in, not always in your best possible light, but an honest light.” -Ian McKellen (actor) “His reputation absolutely proceeded him. He really was One Shot Gotts!” -Paul Newman (actor) “I’d have been proud to have taken the shot he [Andy Gotts] has!” -David Bailey (photographer) “Other photographers could learn a lot from the way he [Gotts] works.” -Meryl Streep (actor) “That was the most fun I have ever had at a photo shoot.” -George Clooney (actor) “Thank you Mr Gotts for making me immortal.” -Quentin Crisp (writer) “Andy Gotts is the most relevant portrait photographer for a decade.” -Kate Winslet (actor) “Gotts is the best celebrity portrait photographer who is not a household name.” -Mario Testino (photographer)