Lena Dunham Goes Commando

Lena Dunham arrived promptly for our Guardian Weekend shoot at a Brooklyn studio. And then she announced that she’d be needing some underwear. As we moved forward with the shots that we could do sans undergarment there remained an undercurrent of questions: Would the underwear arrive? When would it arrive? And how might it alter the shoot?

In the meantime Lena couldn’t have been more sweet and generous with the crew and myself. For someone who has a media reputation for being self-involved it’s hard to imagine her being more gracious with everyone around her. Complimenting people, asking them questions. It even crossed my mind that that perhaps we were getting Punk’d - celebrities aren’t usually this nice.

She was also generous where it really counted - with the photography. Her love of clothes and her genuine embrace of all that is odd and creative made working with her a photographer’s dream. Playful, dirty and weird - everything I look for in a collaborator!

I look forward to our next sitting, where the availability of underwear may provide even more photographic opportunities.