THE INTERVIEW | MASTERS & MUSES | CABANA MAGAZINE
In the more than 50 years that Derry Moore has been taking photographs, he has captured icons of art, design, stage and screen – from Salvador Dali and L.S. Lowry to Alan Bennett, Henry Moore and Helena Bonham Carter. The distinguished British photographer shares stories and portraits from the frontline of culture, and reveals the best advice he’s ever been given – from Oskar Kokoschka and Bill Brandt.
INTERVIEW BY CAMILLA FRANCES | MASTERS & MUSES | 25 MARCH 2024
Castle Howard, photographed by Derry Moore for Cabana Magazine N20
The most memorable trip I’ve taken:
My first proper visit to India in January 1976. It felt like going back 100 years and also, in a curious way going into my own past. It had a deep influence on my photography.
The best party I’ve ever been to:
Probably a children’s party when I was about 10 years old. It was a fancy dress party at the French embassy and seemed incredibly glamourous.
The best gift I’ve ever received:
When I was nine I adored armour, and there was a shop in Burlington Arcade that sold lead soldiers of knights in armour. I was given some by a great friend of my mother’s, the writer James Pope Hennessy. Each knight was wrapped in cotton wool in a small cardboard box with the details of who he was, together with his coat of arms.
Salvador Dali, photographed by Derry Moore
The best advice I’ve ever been given:
Beware of sentimentality – Kokoschka.
Beware of too much expression in photographic portraits – Bill Brandt.
The person I call for good advice:
Different people for different occasions.
The person I call for a good time:
Perhaps my son, Garrett, who has a genius for making occasions festive.
I would describe my childhood as:
Privileged, but of course I didn’t realise at the time, and it involved going to a ghastly prep-school.
Henry Moore, photographed by Derry Moore
My guiltiest pleasure or greatest extravagance:
Linen sheets.
Ideal interiors in three words:
Surprising. Harmonious. Well-lit.
Distasteful interiors in three words:
Banal. Vulgar. Pretentious.
My next weekend-away destination:
The south of Spain, to photograph gardens for the book of Spanish gardens I’m doing with Monty Don.
My favorite flea market or antiques fair:
It WAS Portobello Market near where we live. However, the antiques part – its original point - has virtually vanished thanks to the relentless tourist invasion and been replaced by stalls selling tat.
Helena Bonham Carter, photographed by Derry Moore
I feel most confident when wearing:
Linen shirts – in Winter as well as Summer.
My signature scent:
I don’t have a signature scent, but if I had it would be Knize Ten from Vienna.
My go-to recipe:
OXTAIL
My all-time favourite fabric:
Linen. The texture, the colors.
My dream dinner party companion:
My friend, the painter James Reeve. Ideally not at a party, as I’m rather deaf. He’s very funny and very original.
An artwork or exhibition that took my breath away:
An exhibition of Kokoshka’s portraits in Rotterdam.
Bill Brandt photographed by Derry Moore
Just One More Thing...
One master: Bill Brandt
One city: Today, London
One artwork: Louis Le Nain – Peasant Family (The Louvre)
One book: Shakespeare
One museum: The Alte Pinakothek, Munich
One shop: Peter Jones
One song: Prosper (Maurice Chevalier), La Cumparsita, Carlos Gardel
One color: Yellow
One flower: Daffodil
One word to describe your style: Varied
One word to describe Cabana: Stylish
