So sorry to hear of Ian Holms death today. A pretty good innings at 88 though.
I was fortunate enough to meet Ian Holm when he played Lech Wałęsa at Granada studios Manchester in 1981. I was there with Adam, a fellow photo student at Trent Polytechnic who was the son of the writer Boleslaw Sulik. He had written “Strike! the story of Solidarity”, the movement that eventually saw the collapse of Soviet control of Poland.
What I remember most was his good grace; he was kind to me, a young stranger who took photographs of him as he tried to relax and focus in the breaks between filming scenes. We had a short chat about photography as it was also an interest of his wife.
I was struck that this humble man was completely grounded as he took center stage in depicting the story of the Polish freedom movement. A real pleasure to meet an extraordinary man.
In this photo Ian is talking to the writer Boleslaw.
Pentax K1000 camera, 50mm f2 lens, Ilford HP5 film rated at 400ASA.