Brigitte Bardot enjoyed using her Albatross speedboat in St Tropez
and we sensed that if we could source a vintage one, it would be a
useful prop for this parody; it played emphatically to the era and the
location. We did find one, but it had to come all the way from Goodwood
in the UK.

The buildings in La Ponche have a weathered timelessness that I knew
would serve us well and then I just needed a composition to showcase a
sense of place and a sense of a very specific woman. Nadine Leopold has a
breezy nonchalance that made her ideal for the role and we both knew
the head angles could offer some anonymity. I have worked with Nadine
before and she is a delight.

It is not easy to make someone look like someone else and to do it in
a way that is neither cheap nor gratuitous. My leaning was to
photograph her out of the boat as that would give us the most scope to
build a wider narrative and even include some determined paparazzi on
the shore.

The aluminium structure of the boat’s hull threw off some useful
reflections when facing the rising sun and as this detail started to
show itself, I adapted my plans and Nadine’s position. It never pays to
be too prescriptive.

The goal was to take a picture with an unambiguous sense of place and
sense of a specific era. This is St Tropez - the most idyllic and
storied resort in the world and the place that Bardot called home.