John Rankin Waddell, known as Rankin, is a British film director, publisher, and photographer, who has photographed the likes of Kate Moss, Madonna, David Bowie, Miley Cyrus, The Queen of England, and countless other A-List celebrities. He is best known for his work on the cultural cusp and leading future trends: producing rule-breaking campaigns for brands such as Rolls Royce, Unilever, L’Oreal, and Samsonite. He is creating wide-reaching projects for charities, including Women’s Aid and Macmillan. He shoots music videos for artists such as Rita Ora, Azealia Banks, and Marina & The Diamonds. As a publisher, Rankin co-founded the seminal magazine “Dazed & Confused” in 1991 and has since published the likes of “another” and “AnOther Man” He has authored 40 books and the biannual fashion and culture print and digital platform, “The Hunger.” His photography has been published everywhere from his own publications to Elle, Vogue, Esquire, GQ, Rolling Stone, and Wonderland, and exhibited in galleries globally, including MoMA, New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

I’ve always considered myself a humanitarian, but I’m definitely political with a small p. I’m also a vegetarian and have tried to be one for a lot of my adult life.

Your work through the years gained much recognition and praise within the realm of photography. How did you originally get into photography, and what key moments led to your successful career?
There are so many answers I could give for this. I loved album covers from when I was growing up, David Bailey’s images of The Rolling Stones, or Gered Mankowitz’s pictures of The Jam. There was something so alluring about them, though I had no idea who did what or who any of the photographers were. I also loved cinema and I was drawn to magazines. There were so many small encounters which inspired me.

But I came to actually taking photos quite late. I had begun an accountancy degree at Brighton Polytechnic when, at 21, and I started taking pictures. Quickly realizing that this was what I wanted to do, I dropped accountancy and went back to my A-levels to study photography. Then on to do a degree. Though to be honest, most of what I learned technically about photography came on the job. It was all trial and error. For me, my course felt like it was teaching myself everything around photography, so I had to learn about the technology myself.

Hungry?, Dazed & Confused, Issue 15, 1995

Take us through your photographic style. How has it shifted through your experiences in this profession or do you think it has not changed at all? Are there any specific elements you like to use when creating your work?
When I started photography, I thought I wanted to be a documentary photographer. The first photography exhibition I ever went to was of W. Eugene Smith at Barbican, and his photojournalism felt like the most vibrant and true imagery.

But as I expanded my photographic knowledge, reading books by Susan Sontag, and seeing more constructed images, I came to see that it wasn’t documentary I loved, it was the ability to tell a story.

So very early on I'd decided not to have a style per se, that’s probably why I get asked a lot about it, a lot. During different phases of my career, you’ll see that I’ve adopted different signatures. For example, if you look at the 90s, I had a medium format camera with a wide-angle lens. It was incredible with its short focal length so you could get really up-close-and-personal. I used it to create works with a real “in your face” attitude. But then I would always do something else that plays with the medium, explores it, and is different from what I’ve just done.

For me, I think a “Rankin Photograph” is just one that feels honest. There is a rawness and reality, even in the most conceptual of shoots. In every photograph I strive to make a connection with my subject, to build up a rapport, which (hopefully) the viewer also feels. I try to make an emotional and intellectual connection to the audience by trusting my gut when making the picture.

Robert Downey Jr, Entertainment Weekly, 2008

What have been your biggest challenges working within this industry? How do you stay motivated in your work?
I’m really embarrassed to say that I’m just one of those people who wakes up motivated. I can’t help it. That’s why I called my magazine “The Hunger,” because I’m just always hungry for more, in fact some would probably say greedy!

The major challenges I’ve faced are few and far between because I accept that the daily challenges are just par for the course, and I don’t really see trying to get my perspective out there as a challenge.

Many photographers around the world are inspired by you and the incredible images you produce. What advice do you have for any beginner photographers or those who wish to follow in your footsteps one day?
Wow, really, are they? Thank you, but I don’t feel that at all. In fact, if anything, quite the opposite. I always feel very much on my own, almost fighting all of the time. Which is funny because I absolutely LOVE other photographers with a passion, but my personality is one of a contrarian. In Scotland, it’s called ‘thrawn.’ I also have a real problem with authority and never really like to be told what to do or to follow any rules.

This makes it really difficult with giving advice, as I wouldn’t recommend being like me to anyone. But saying that my advice would be: Follow your own path, don’t follow mine, and take lots of photos.

People can get so worried about “not having the right camera,” “not knowing someone who can do hair/make-up,” “not being able to book models.” But not every shoot needs to be big, not every idea needs a full team. Read, research, take ideas, and replicate them yourself. Get your Mum/Friend/ Partner to be your model and shoot in natural light. Find what works for you, your style, then try and go big. At its heart, any art form is about education and practice.

Debby Harry, Dazed & Confused, Issue 49, 1998

Do you have any specific photo equipment you must have or carry with you, whether it be for a photo-shoot or just for day-to-day use?
Oh no, definitely not. I really believe in the power of the maker of the picture, not the tools with which they make it.

What projects are you currently working on now?
Volumetric captures, which are essentially 170 cameras in 360 degrees around a subject. You capture them in 3-dimension and what you can do from that is make a sculpture. The idea of making photography sculptures is amazing. Everybody’s becoming so obsessed with digital and for me, the idea of being able to create an incredible 3D bronze of a subject matter that’s really based on photography is kind of like changing the whole manner of what photography is about. I really love the idea that in a thousand years, one of my sculptures will still exist. And it’s based on a photo.

Essentially, it’s a photo brought to life and I love that so much. It’s really exciting.

Highly Flammable, Dazed & Confused, Issue 31, 1997

Are there any companies, brands, or celebrities you admire and would most like to work with in the future?
Sorry, but that is too big of a question. Yes, there are people I’d love to work with, but we probably don’t have enough time or space to go through them. I mean just refer back to the answer where I say I’m greedy. Plus, I try not to act needy in any way. I’m always desperate to do something new and if I let that part of my personality out, it’s a bit like the Hulk. 'You wouldn't like me when I’m needy!’

Do you have any horror stories from shooting with celebrities? (Without naming names, of course) How do you work through these difficult situations?
I have loads, but I decided a while ago that I shouldn’t tell them. You see I concluded that what goes on set, should stay on set. Photo shoots are weird and can be very microscopic for the subject, especially celebrities. But what a lot of people don’t like to remember is that we are all just human and the few hours I spend with someone, are, just, a few hours. I have no idea what is going on in their private life and it’s literally none of my business. People, including me and I’m sure the readers, have bad days and therefore bad moods and bad behavior.

What we do is not life threatening, although some of us treat it like it is. I want my subjects to feel safe and secure, to feel like they can trust me, no matter what mood they are in, So I’ve now got a lot of respect for that trust and don’t talk about it.

Be Still Beating Heart, HUNGER, Issue 2, 2011

What kind of impact do you hope to make in the world of photography in the next 10-15 years?
I’d like to be one of the first photographic sculptors.

Of all the images/projects you have produced this far in your career, which is your favorite and what is the story behind it?
Oh no, again, there are too many to mention here and they change all of the time. My favorite shoot is normally the one I’m going to do next, or one I’ve just done.

PhotoBook focuses on emerging talent while celebrating racial and other types of diversity in its coverage of ethical and sustainable brands. We admire your humanity and position regarding animal issues and vegetarianism. A few years ago, you produced ‘A Supermodel in a Cow Mask,’ take us through this project and what you hoped the outcome would be.
Nice one, it’s brilliant that you position yourself like that and I am in full agreement with you. Respect! That shoot was a parody of how I thought models were treated at the time. It was originally called Livestock and was a critique of the business of fashion. But it’s great to hear a different interpretation.

It’s interesting, as a lot of people assume I do interviews and PR because I want to be famous. But it’s my photos that I want the fame for. The more people that see them, the more successful I think they are. Also, and I promise to finish here, as I’ve gone on a bit. One of the reasons that I feel quite solo in my career is because I want my photographs to have lives of their own. To mean different things to different people. For them to be simple in sight, but complex in deconstruction. To mean what they mean to every individual that sees them. If they hate them, I’m not worried, it’s better than indifference. Although, of course, it’s nice if they are loved. But that is an inherent part of my work, that it’s for the audience and viewer to read and decide what they want to read in my images. There is no right way or Rankin way. My only real hope is that the read is meaningful, no matter what it is!

Animal Fashion, Another, Issue Zero, 1994

Rankin (Photographer)
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1 Thrawn means twisted, crooked, distorted; (of people) obstinate, intractable, etc. Thrawn is frequently used with reference to stubbornness and absolute conviction. A recent article in Scotland on Sunday described the Scottish Borders as having a "thrawn sense of self". Another, in the Scotsman, proclaimed Calum's Road on Raasay a symbol of "thrawn determination". Given the example of Calum MacLeod, who built his two-mile road single-handed, thrawnness clearly may be an admirable characteristic. But as with so many things, perception is the key.

When Irvine's famous son John Galt described the "set of thrawn-natured tenants" in his novel, The Entail (1822), no admiration was implied. The word is derived from the Scots verb thraw and shares its Old English ancestry with modern English "throw". One of the early senses of "throw" was to twist, entwine or turn, and this meaning survived in Scots although falling out of use in English. In the late fourteenth century account of The Bruce, by John Barbour, we find an early Scots usage:

Article by Joshua Jordan, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Design Coordinator, PhotoBook Magazine
*All photos courtesy of Rankin