Shooting "Fiddy"

Oh the fun I've had with this shoot! Let me set the scene first;

I get a call around Xmas and New Year from the Daily Star asking to use photos of the 50 Cent look-a-like I did early last year. Sadly, my earliest work was erased in what I now refer to as "The Great Hardisk Wipeout Disaster of March 2008"

I lost all the high res files of my previous shoot with Fiddy and couldn't provide the high res pics for the Daily Star, gutted. Thankfully - the Daily Star are quite patient people and they were happy to let us re-shoot some new photos of Fiddy.

So I decide to have some fun with it, I let a few people know that THE 50 Cent will be at Custard Factory around 3pm, which sparks off a few "OMGGZZZ IZ DAT FO'RIL?"


I arranged to meet Fiddy at Custard Factory, and within minutes, a small crowed had gathered around our spot. After shooting around Custard Factory, we thought it might be a good idea to get out into Digbeth.

Have you ever seen someones head turn 360 degrees? I personally didn't think it was possible but people driving past in buses and cars seemed to lose all interest in the road and become fixated/bemused by 50 Cent, randomly in the middle of Digbeth.

My favourite parts of the day was watching peoples reactions to him. Stereotypically, mainstream rap wouldn't go down well with people based at Custard Factory, so it was hilarious watching a few awkward "Hellos" from people that clearly dislike 50 Cent.

The thought process (if you transfer words to facial expressions) went something like this;

"Minding my own business >> Eh? Thats 50 cent! >> He's looking at me >> I'm going to have to say hello >> But I don't like 50 Cent"

Anyhow - The main objective was to get some great shots for his 1 and half page feature in a magazine and for the Daily Star, which is exactly what we did - despite the cold and group distractions. I'm really pleased with how they came out.