Pascal Molliere

Theater Photography Top Tips from Pascal Molliere

As a theatre photographer, you’re usually dealing with press officers or publicity companies. These are the people who book you, and who need to get the front of house stills.

Shooting people | Pascal Molliere

Photography has been a passion of mine since a young age. I guess I've always had an eye for detail, and a creative ability as far back as I can remember.

There is no doubt that sex sells, above all else. Sex is the biggest most lucrative subject on planet Earth when it comes to sales, and in spite of political correctness or the horrors of some of the worst cases we hear about, the problem becomes an oversaturated and numbing issue that we can tend to take for granted these days, as more and more stories emerge about people in positions of power and influence.

When I was little, I remember us having to drive to France every year. There was me and my brother, in the back seats (having been prised from our beds in the middle of deep sleep, and thrown into the back of our parents Ford Anglia) and driving through the dark, twisting country roads towards Dover in order to catch the ferry at god-knows what time.

By the time the ferry began its journey across the channel, it was only just getting light. Then there was the next 4hrs, sat bored and squashed in the back, sleeping, looking out the window, and asking ‘are we there yet’ questions along the way.

What an arduous journey that was. But how thankful I am that we did it? The visits to Versailles every year for me, have meant so much, and will mean so much forevermore. At the time, it was just a place that was special to our family. It WAS our family’s town.

The apartment on the 5th (top floor) of number 45 Boulevard De La Reine, was home, at least for the time we were there. We always knew when we had reached Versailles, as suddenly we would be woken by the cobbles. As the car tyres went from the smooth tarmac to the ancient cobbles of the Versailles streets, we’d wake up.

Just as Versailles was in full-swing, my brother and I would peer through the steamy car windows and suddenly wake up. We are here, at last! Within no time, we were driving past the Chateau, where Pepe worked as a coach driver around the city, and where all those familiar places we knew so well, and then we approached the building where my father grew up, and as the Boulevard opened up in front of us, we had to turn into the inner street to find a space to park.

All of the Versailles Boulevards had a type of inner road, which was away from the main road, which allowed local cars and residents to park and avoid the main road.  The enormous pavements were gravelly, and shaded by enormous leafy trees, and then suddenly we were parked. We had arrived, at last. I will never forget the enormous solid oak blue doors at the street entrance, it was so enormous that there was another entry door cut into the huge door, and you had to step over the bottom half of the door to get in.

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! Pascal Molliere | Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter in Anthony and Cleopatra