‘Noel Gallagher was mega hungover and Will.i.am kept walking off’ – The stories behind Big Issue photoshoots

“Noel Gallagher was mega hungover after being at an awards ceremony the night before. He came in and lay on the sofa until we started and then 20 minutes in asked if we’d got enough because he was ‘losing the will to live’.”

“Noel Fielding and Serge gave me loads of time and after doing different set ups in Noel’s studio, he decided we should take the shoot outside and down the road to his local Costcutter.

“It was one of the most fun and relaxed shoots I’ve ever done. As I sat in my car afterwards sorting out my Google maps to get home, he and his mates tapped on the window to wave goodbye. Really lovely people to photograph.”

“After a mix up at the hotel location we’d been sent to, Terry Pratchett was more than happy to let me come hat shopping with him in his favourite hat store.

“The owners were thrilled to accommodate us and kept bringing out more and more elaborate hats for him to try on. What started as a disaster with the location falling through turned into a brilliant experience.”

“Bob the cat was one of my hardest subjects. He wouldn’t look at the camera or do anything I wanted him to.

“In the end he must’ve eaten about seven salmon sachets during the course of the shoot so I could get one frame with him looking at me.”

“Hugely inspiring and incredibly friendly.

“You would be hard pushed to find anyone more perfect for the role of ambassador. Becoming homeless in her teens, she started selling the magazine at the age of 16 and is now one of the UK’s top firefighters with a PHD in psychology and a book out – and she’s a joy to photograph too!”

“I’d been warned that will.i.am didn’t have a great attention span for shoots but we’re literally talking thirty-second bursts of posing before walking off.

“I had to keep dragging him back. He was really good natured but I was panicking I wouldn’t get enough shots!”

“The Dalai Lama was incredible to photograph. We’d done the prep in stages- entered one room on arrival, got my kit out ready in a second room, then waited in the hallway for the previous interview to finish.

“All of a sudden the door flew wide open and he was there in the doorway grabbing my hand and pulling me to the other side of the room.

“My assistant was holding lights so instead of waiting for him to put the light down to shake his hand, with a big laugh he grabbed his beard and pulled him into the room with that instead.”

“Ricky Gervais performed brilliantly for every shot giving loads of options in the edit.”

“I found myself at the buffet table with Brandon Flowers chatting about how great breaded chicken is.”

“Russell Brand kindly put up with intense gloss paint fumes from the DIY that was going on in the room I’d been given for his shoot.”

“Each week the magazine profiles a vendor on their pitch where often they are well known within the local community- the shoots are always pleasantly interrupted with friendly hellos from regulars.

“One assignment was to photograph a vendor who talked someone to safety as they were trying to jump off London Bridge and this is just one of an array of fascinating stories I’ve heard throughout the years.”

“Also included here are shots showcasing the Zettle by Paypal partnership which allows vendors to take contactless payments and one from last year displaying the PPE that was given to vendors before they were allowed to sell on the streets again.”