Who Does Rankin Think Is “Horrible” To Photograph?

Rankin has photographed some of the world's most famous names - from Kate Moss and Emma Watson to David Bowie and the Queen - but, he says, there is one group of people that he finds more challenging than all others - politicians.

"Horrible," he said. "There's nothing there. What they do is they have a face. There's something there when you're talking to them, but as soon as you pull the camera out, they have a face. A photographic face, they've obviously practiced it in the mirror."

Rankin

However, he isn't averse to working with the world's more controversial political figures and would happily photograph both Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un because it's "part of my job". Previous politicians to pose for his camera include Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Mikhail Gorbachev.

"I would shoot him, yeah," he tells The Independent of Jong-Un. "It's just that fascination of being able to go there and see it all and, you know, things that no one sees. I'd photograph anyone if I thought it was going to be interesting to me and for the people who would be looking at my photograph. I wouldn't ever shy away from that."