Who is popular today?

Simon Webb has never been afraid to push his subjects to get the perfect shot, so what has he learned in his time behind the camera? Rhiannon Evans finds out
“I just remember thinking: ‘Who is this dude?’ He was this young lad, really confident, 14 or something – and he wouldn’t let me move his hair out of his face.” Recalling the time he photographed Justin Bieber on his first press shoot in London, Simon Webb is illustrating the painful truth all journalists know deep down – it’s photographers who have the best stories.
He seamlessly moves on to snapping Jimmy Page with children at music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins. “To see that man, that great musician so in the moment and authentic and caring and gentle, was really powerful and beautiful,” he remembers. He once got paid for a week to track down Pete Doherty for a fashion shoot, turned up at his house on the first day – and found him. “We put him in a suit and just took some pictures of him,” he laughs. Continue reading...