Who the fuck is Henry Gorse? If you don’t know, you should, and will do thanks to the London-based photographer’s new book of that exact title. An immersive trip into Gorse’s world, the 400-page book – designed in collaboration with graphic designers Alfie Allen and Max Marshall – acts as a multi-medium portal consisting of images and games, early-00s visuals and found social media conversations, all divided into chapters named after thoughts and reflections stored in Gorse’s iPhone notes.

Inside the book, there’s a man wearing a suit made entirely from Werther’s Originals wrappers, there’s a game of Snakes and Ladders to help you remember your photography equipment, and headwear made out of fizzy sweets. Models wearing traffic cones, Kermit the Frog hugging a skeleton, a Facebook comment argument about someone stealing a broccoli casserole recipe, and bananas, lots of bananas. This vibrant, surrealist mix of hi-fi and lo-fi, luxury fashion and everyday objects, models and streetcast strangers epitomises Gorse’s practice – imagine if the Dada artists had AI – which acts as the perfect riposte to fashion’s hard-wired earnestness. Henry Gorse wants you to have a good time and embrace the freedom of art: “Creativity first and practicality second!” Always.

Alex James Taylor: Can you tell us the idea behind the book – what made you want to make it and what did you want it to represent?
Henry Gorse: I wanted to create a photobook that didn’t conform to traditional expectations, a book that feels like a fashion magazine but is entirely filled with original content, free of advertisements.

AJT: Can you take us through the process of putting the book together, collating the images, and figuring out a narrative?
HG: I initially worked with graphic designer Alfie Allen, who commissioned my first few covers. We started by printing nearly everything I’ve ever shot and grouped and paired images on both our living room floors. Later, Max Marshall joined us, and we remixed the structured edit into something that felt more true to the chaos of the work. A remix of the master.

All the graphical chapters of the book were created from thoughts and reflections in my iPhone notes. It may seem bizarre to structure a book this way, but to stay true to the nature of the work, we prioritized creativity first and practicality second! [laughs] Remember the names Alfie Allen and Max Marshall – the boys are on fire!

AJT: Do you remember first picking up a camera and feeling excited about image-making?
HG: Yes! Whatever came to mind, I would go for it. I would throw bananas into the sunset, connect my hands into rainbows in the sky, photograph my friends and family doing silly things, and document the farm where I worked from the age of sixteen. It was pure escapism, an identity, a form of expression, it gave me everything.

AJT: You’re known for using found objects and transforming them into surreal props, can you tell us about this and where that sensibility came from?
HG: I started as a studio assistant at Curtain Road Studios and would agency test on the weekends. The models were often very young and came with their parents, inexperienced and awkward. I remember thinking, “I’m going to make a terrible photograph here,” but using what was around me in the studio always seemed to transport the photographs somewhere else and add an element of intrigue. As the model’s confidence changed, it became a collaboration. I realised in those moments that if I took a bad photograph of anyone, it was completely on me; every situation is a golden opportunity – you just have to find a way to make it work.

” I would throw bananas into the sunset, connect my hands into rainbows in the sky, photograph my friends and family doing silly things…”

AJT: Within that, there’s a really exciting mix of high fashion and everyday items – how do you see these worlds colliding?
HG: I think we’ve just left a DIY period in the fashion industry. This approach makes fashion more accessible and maximises the potential for viral content, appealing to a younger audience. I would create fashion photographs without any fashion, even if that meant using found objects or fancy dress. This allowed me the freedom to create without being limited by the acceptance of the powers that be. I think high fashion brands have really tapped into this over the last few years; it definitely makes an inaccessible world feel more real.

“I think the book fits nicely into a fruit bowl…”

AJT: There’s such a sense of fun, optimism, and energy in your work – do you think we need more of this in the industry?
HG: Absolutely! I think we can always use more fun and optimism in the industry. It’s essential to balance the serious aspects of fashion with joy and creativity.

AJT: Big question, what ignited your love of bananas?
HG: I think bananas are a metaphor and symbol that represents my work in its simplest form – the magical realism mascot, if you like. Just look at them as objects; they’re quite bizarre and unusual, yet they appear consistently in mundane day-to-day life, serving as a reminder that the sublime is never too far away.

AJT: I also love the Facebook comments argument about the broccoli casserole thief, aka lizard bitch!
HG: This came from the book’s text editor, James Ross. We were debating the concept of whether anything can truly be deemed original anymore, so it feels right for him to weigh in on this.
James Ross: We all take ownership of what we put into the world, be it an image we’ve created, words we’ve written, or a recipe we’ve produced. And damn right we should be precious about that. Imitation may be deemed the sincerest form of flattery, but try telling that to Helen; she’s fuming. And I reckon she has the right to be. Hands off her casserole, Caroline.

AJT: Do you have a favourite image or series, or one that stands out for the amount of work that went into it?
HG: It’s hard to say as I approach my work as very strong single images, everything has to be a banger, so there is a lot of single images that have been combined to say something new. This I think is the epitome of this book. More recently I am enjoying the simplicity of a clever series of images repeating itself, the power of the idea rather than the image itself.

AJT: If you could photograph anyone who would it be?
HG: If I could take a portrait of anyone, it would be between Cillian Murphy, Mo Salah, Michaela Coel, and Aubrey Plaza.

AJT: What would you recommend people listen to while looking through your book, and where should they keep it in their house?
HG: I think the book fits nicely into a fruit bowl, or if you want to be more conventional, on a bookshelf, because that spine is popping! I have a playlist I made with Zeel Freel called Metal Mario Barbie. I would recommend playing it on shuffle; you never know what you’re going to get – except pure vibes. I think that’s a great fit! [laughs] I also have to give a shoutout to Ascendant Vierge; they have inspired the energy on many shoots even though I don’t understand a word Mathilde is singing.

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Who the Fuck is Henry Gorse? is out now