#79: Parisa Taghizadeh, Stills Photographer

My guest this week is Parisa Taghizadeh - who goes by the name Tag - and she is a stills photographer for film and television. 

This is a job that I was so curious to find out more about - because stills are often the very first glimpse we get of a film. We might hear whose been cast or that production is underway, but when that photograph is released it’s our first visual of what that film might look and be like and so it’s a really important role. 

Tag has an extensive and varied career working with directors such as Jane Campion, Sally Potter, Michael Winterbottom, Edgar Wright and Steve McQueen on both studio and independent productions such as Top of the Lake, Killing Eve, Slow West, the Small Axe anthology and upcoming films Last Night in Soho and Last Letter from Your Lover. 

We talk about Tag’s career from art school to getting her “big break” in inverted commas, as well as the mechanics of the role and how she’s able to get those shots and why being both discreet and pushy are key traits on set.