What’s it like to be the stills photographer on one of the biggest and best historical dramas on TV? Geoff Harris finds out
Fans of historical drama and anything Japanese have been glued to Shogun, the big-bucks remake of James Clavell’s novel (some readers may remember the original TV series with Richard Chamberlain). The new Shogun has been getting rave reviews and pulled in 9 million views globally across Disney+ and other channels in its first six days of availability. Shogun is broadly based on the true story of Will Adams (John Blackthorne in the show).
Adams was an English sailor who got shipwrecked in Japan around 1600, a crucial year in the country’s history,with civil war brewing.
Initially held captive, he became the confidante of Ieyasu Tokugawa, an ambitious samurai warlord (Lord Toranaga in the show). We won’t give the plot away for anyone who’s not seen Shogun yet, but it’s a good old-fashioned historical epic, praised for its emotional power and reverential attention to period detail. Indeed, many eminent Japanese actors and consultants were involved in the production, including Hiroyuki Sanada from The Last Samurai and Westworld, so being the stills photographer on set was always going to be a big responsibility. The job went to Katie Yu, a seasoned stills shooter with a strong track record. Katie’s based in Canada, where much of Shogun was filmed, and looks back at her time as photographer on this hit TV series.
From sci-fi to samurai
‘I took up photography as a hobby while I was in the film and TV programme in university,’ Katie explains by way of background. ‘We would volunteer on each student’s short film projects, so I often shot their stills. It never occurred to me that stills photography was actually a job until I shadowed the camera department on a low-budget feature.’ Katie sharpened her stills skills on various low-budget productions, before becoming more established. ‘FX offered me Shogun shortly after I had to turn down another project as it involved lots of travel (I have a senior cat). My portfolio is mainly superhero, action and sci-fi.
Historical dramas are very rare in Vancouver, where I am based, but when I was offered Shogun, I jumped at the opportunity knowing it would be visually stunning.’
It’s easy to mistake the stills photographer with photographers brought in to take publicity shots, so Katie explains the difference. ‘I was hired as the official Unit Stills Photographer. Not only do you photograph what’s being filmed but also take shots behind the scenes. You need to shoot the empty sets, props and costumes,
