From ‘James Bond’s most iconic moments are on display in this virtual exhibition’ published by British GQ on Wednesday 1st April 2020.

No Time To Die is still on hold, but in the interim we can all enjoy these classic Bond images

With the country in lockdown, galleries and other cultural institutions are looking for innovative ways to provide a dose of culture to the Netflix-fatigued masses. Iconic Images Gallery has launched an online exhibition of photographs taken from the set of James Bond films by legendary photographer Terry O’Neill. Included are storied behind-the-scenes moments from classic films including Goldfinger, Live And Let Die and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Iconic Images’ virtual exhibition tour produced by V21 Artspace allows viewers to browse the exhibition from the safety of their sofas, with an easy-to-navigate 3-D walkthrough of the gallery.

Running to coincide with the launch of the book Bond: Photographed By Terry O’Neill, The Definitive Collection, the website will be updated over the coming weeks with excerpts from the book. In the below gallery, O’Neill gives some fascinating insights into some of the photographs on display.

Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore

"I started shooting James Bond movies in 1963, when the paper I was working for sent me down to the set of From Russia With Love, the follow-up to the 1962 smash Dr No. It was clear that the Bond film franchise would come to epitomise British filmmaking in the 1960s and go on to launch several careers, notably Sean Connery, who was, in every sense of the word, cool. And yes, to be sure, these are James Bond films, but the roles of the leading actresses would become sought-after. These women, often strong, independent characters, would be remembered for their tongue-in-cheek names. Perhaps the most notable and notorious of them all being Pussy Galore.

In Goldfinger, Honor Blackman was cast as Bond’s female nemesis. Blackman became the Bond girl that broke all the rules. Concerned over censorship, the producers considered changing her character’s name to Kitty Galore, but art triumphed over censors and the filmmakers stuck to their guns.

It was just too good an opportunity. I’m not sure how we came up with the idea. I was with Honor, a stunningly terrific and smart woman, doing some press shots on the beach. I took photos of her on the rocks, in a fur coat, on the balcony and also did a few rolls in colour. And as I was standing there, looking down at her with all that blank sand, the idea just hit. So we wrote her character’s first name on the sand: Pussy."

James Bond on the moon

"I was working on the set of the new James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, when the news hit that astronaut Alan Shepard ended a historic moonwalk during the Apollo 14 mission by launching a few golf balls with his eight-iron. Included in the papers was an astonishing image of Shepard playing golf on the moon. That sparked an idea…

Sean [Connery] was a keen golfer – he always had his clubs with him. I went over to Sean and said, ‘I have an idea for a shot, go get your clubs.’

I found an empty soundstage at Pinewood Studios that was set-up just perfectly. Sean was already fitted in his Bond suit and, laughing the entire time, we proceeded to re-create the photo."

James Bond at the slots

"We were in Las Vegas, a happy assignment as photography goes, on the set of the latest James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever. What people don’t realise is that when you are working on a film, there is a lot of downtime. Backgrounds need to be in place, all the extras need to be in wardrobe, lights, sound, cameras – you name it. This means, we had time to kill.

Sean was already in the James Bond mood – looking sharp in a white tux. I said to him, ‘Come on then, let's go walk around.’

When Sean, or should I say 007, walked through the casino, I won’t lie – the crowds parted. Then he stopped and tried his luck on the slots."

Ursula Andress on the roulette table

"When Casino Royale started to roll, I knew I had to be there for that filming. Casino Royale was the 1967 ‘spy spoof’ that had an all-star cast, including Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, David Niven and Orson Welles. As you can imagine, with a cast like that, the set was a roller-coaster. Everywhere you looked, there was a star. Sellers and I were good friends and he was cast as the ‘James Bond’ character. Ursula – who was already viewed as the most memorable Bond beauty — was Vesper Lynd. I knew I only had one chance to get the shot I wanted – it’s a frozen moment in a hectic take. Money flying, bottles smashed, but in this photo, it’s pure serenity.’

Bond By Terry O’Neill can be found at iconicimages.net

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