Behind the scenes of ‘Babylon’
Soho House chats to legendary photographer Matthew Rolston, who had exclusive access to the year’s most hotly anticipated movie starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt
Thursday 22 December 2022 By Jo Addy
Photographer and artist Matthew Rolston has had his work exhibited at many museums around the world. Most recently, his portraits captured on the set of Babylon – the latest movie from Oscar®-winning director Damien Chazelle – were exhibited at Soho Beach House Miami, during Art Basel and then at Soho House West Hollywood, where members also enjoyed pre-release screenings of the film, along with Q&As with cinematographer Linus Sandgren, music composer Justin Hurwitz and costume designer, Mary Zophres.
To celebrate the exhibit and the movie, which will be screened across our Houses from 23 December, we chat to West Hollywood member Matthew Rolston about his career to date and how the Babylon collaboration came to be…
Image above: Matthew Rolston, Diego Calva as Manny Torres, Balloon I, Los Angeles, 2021. From the series Hollywood Bohemia: The Babylon Portraits. © 2022 PARAMOUNT PICTURES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Matthew Rolston, Jean Smart as Elinor St. John, Diamond Headpiece I, Los Angeles, 2021. From the series Hollywood Bohemia: The Babylon Portraits. © 2022 PARAMOUNT PICTURES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Matthew Rolston, Jovan Adepo as Sidney Palmer, Trumpet I, Los Angeles, 2021. From the series Hollywood Bohemia: The Babylon Portraits. © 2022 PARAMOUNT PICTURES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Your first photography job while still in college was at Interview magazine. How did Andy Warhol discover you?
‘I studied drawing, illustration, photography and film at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. At that time my brother, Dean Rolston, with a couple of partners, had a little influential art gallery in New York City called 56 Bleecker. He was really plugged into everyone in the downtown art scene, especially the younger set of people surrounding Warhol and Interview magazine. So, I was introduced to the Interview crowd and Andy himself. I even got to trail along for a few late nights at Studio 54.
‘Later, while I was still a student at ArtCenter, the magazine were looking for someone in Los Angeles to photograph Steven Spielberg, then an emerging director, and my name came up. Because they knew me through my brother and had seen my photography portfolio, they decided to take a chance. Andy approved and that became my first published portrait of any significance. I went on to work with Interview on many more assignments, including quite a few covers over the next 10 years. I think my first cover story was Michael Jackson, believe it or not. That led to opportunities at publications like Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Vanity Fair. But it was truly Andy and Interview that gave me my first start.’
You were commissioned by Paramount Pictures to create a series of ‘portraits-in-character’ of the leading actors in Babylon. How much time did you spend on set and how much access did you get to the actors between takes to create the portraits?
‘The shoots took place on a huge soundstage at Paramount, separate from the sets on the backlot at Paramount where Damien Chazelle and the team were making the film. The actors were brought from the film’s set to the photo stage, in costume, during short breaks in the shooting of the film. It was quite a choreography of timing to get the actors shuttled back and forth between the set and the photo stage. Everything had to be pre-planned and pre-lit so we could just get to work very quickly.’
Matthew Rolston, Li Jun Li as Lady Fay Zhu, Top Hat, Los Angeles, 2021. From the series Hollywood Bohemia: The Babylon Portraits. © 2022 PARAMOUNT PICTURES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
To prepare for the shoot did you work with the production designer on finding the right spot on the film set for each portrait?
‘Although I didn’t have access to the sets of the film, the Babylon production team did share quite a lot of on-set documentation. We created our own sets with our own production team based on the look and feel of the movie, but they were not exact reproductions of any actual scenes in the movie. The point was to capture the mood, and most people know that my work is very detailed in terms of art direction and design, so they were looking to me to lead that process.’
What’s next for you?
‘I am working on an ongoing series of projects as a creative director and I continue my work as a photographer both in commercial and fine art practice. I’m also busy preparing my next book of fine art photography to be published in late 2023. I teach an original masterclass in communications called The Power of Pleasure at my alma mater, ArtCenter, too.’
What’s your favourite thing to do at Soho House West Hollywood?
‘There’s nothing better than an intimate sunset-hour supper on the club’s rooftop terrace overlooking Sunset Boulevard. It’s so Hollywood, so beautiful with the whole city spread out – a sea of lights at your feet as the sun goes down.’
