Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Eurythmics were intending to shoot scenes for a pop video in and around Jerusalem. I was flown out to shoot some photos of Annie Lennox during down-time, for a solo side project. This is an out-take from that shoot.
I went down one day to watch them filming in an area that I believe was called King Solomon’s Baths in nearby Bethlehem. Dave Stewart was there with Siobhan Fahey (of Bananrama) who was his girlfriend at the time.
She had some part in the video, which required her to not wear very much – a sort of belly dancer’s skirt and top. As we all know, in that part of the world - the birthplace of Jesus Christ - women normally cover up completely and Siobhan had attracted a huge crowd of young Arab youths who stared at her with a rather scary mixture of lust and hate. All this unpleasant attention really seemed to freak Siobhan out and, not unnaturally, she didn’t seem to want to do any filming. It seemed more than a little inappropriate and
I think the idea was canned. Either that or they went somewhere less crowded.
This photograph (detail), which was taken on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, was the last time I ever photographed Annie.
In the five years between this photograph and the previous one, Annie Lennox had gone from a virtual unknown to a huge world star. I enjoyed every moment of the time I spent photographing her. She was always warm, friendly and very unaffected by her success.