I’m a bit of a daydreamer, especially while driving, which maybe isn’t an ideal time — it’s how I got the sudden urge, not sure why, that I should reach out to ask if I might photograph Michael Eavis. It suddenly popped into my head that Michael and his family are the people who have put Somerset on the world map with the world-famous Glastonbury Festival.

For that reason, I felt I had to at least ask if he would spare a few minutes to be part of this project. Fortunately, he and his team liked the idea and were very accommodating, allowing me to photograph him a few weeks before Glastonbury 2022 — not exactly their quiet time.

Michael, as I expected, was lovely and very charismatic in front of the lens, and made my job easy. In fact, the whole shoot was done in less than 30 minutes. I titled the main image “3 Icons of Glastonbury,” showing Michael together with the Pyramid Stage and Glastonbury Tor rising above the Somerset landscape.

Bio supplied by Glastonbury Festival press office: Michael Eavis is an English dairy farmer, best known as creator of the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, held on his farm in Pilton, Somerset since 1970. The Festival now aims to raise two million pounds each year for Greenpeace, Oxfam, and WaterAid, alongside hundreds of local causes.