I’m guessing you’re not as familiar with that name as were with others I’ve posted?
But you’ll be familiar with his work.
Saatchi’s ‘Pregnant Man’?
BBH’s ‘Black Sheep’ poster?
CDP’s ‘Wolf In Sheeps Clothing’?
Yes? All shot by Alan.
Because they’re such a fantastic ideas, they look as though anybody could’ve shot them.
The images are so simple and clear you can’t imagine done them any other way.
But each is the end result of a series of choices.
Take a look at the casting contacts from the the ‘Pregnant Man’ ad, the alternative models look ridiculous, but they didn’t on January 21st 1970.
Look at the ‘Black’ sheep ad Alan shot for John Hegarty (and Barbra Nokes), just a bunch of sheep with a black one plonked in the middle?
Nope.
If shot side-on, they’d blend into each other after the first row and not fill the poster.
If shot from above you wouldn’t see them in that classic, side-on profile.
So Alan used his map reading skills (acquired through Rally driving) to find a steep incline, so that the sheep rose up, filling the poster with graphic sheep profiles, almost like cut outs, but better for being shot for real.
Then there’s the ‘Wolf In Sheeps Clothing’; How hard can it be to fling a sheep’s pelt over a wolf?
Very, as it turns out.
Wolves don’t like modelling, so Alan borrowed some sheep pictures from a friend, photographer Adrian Flowers, then comped the two together.
In Alan’s words, he wasn’t a photographer, he was  ‘an adman with a camera’, simply trying to bring the ideas to life.
He’d learnt how to do this from his years as a top art director at CPV and CDP, getting to work on a regular basis with photographers like Elliott Erwitt, Duffy and Terrence Donovan.
We had a great chat, hope you enjoy it.

ART DIRECTOR.
Colman Prentiss & Varley.
BEA.

(A young studio boy stands in as a model, his name was Paul Arden. Below, you can see them both at work at CPV.)


Carlsberg.

Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Lancia.



Aer Lingus.


(Terence Donovan shooting the above ad.)


Ronson.

Lady Ronson.

Flu-O-Pep.

Chemstrand.

Just one ad ended up being made from that campaign, it featured a car.
So Alan, being a car nut, decided to design a car for the shoot.
This one.



PHOTOGRAPHER.
Studio.

ROCOLA SHIRTS – Bridge-Levin.
Writer: Dan Levin, Art Director: Brian Bridge. (Shoe guy Manolo Blahnik is the first model, copywriter Andrew Cracknell the second.)

HARROD’S – Papert Koenig Lois.
Writer: Tim Delaney, Art Director: Phil Mason.

NOVA – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: Charles Saatchi, Art Director: Ross Cramer.

FORD – Collett Dickerson Pearce.
Writer: Dan Levin, Art Director: Brian Bridge.

LEWIS’S – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: Charles Saatchi, Art Director: Ross Cramer.

SOMNUS – Cramer Saatchi.
Writer: Mike Coughlan, Art Director: John Hegarty.
Health Education Council (Cramer Saatchi).
‘Bleach’ Writer: Charles Saatchi & Michael Coughlan. Art Director John Hegarty.
‘The Pregnant Man’ – Writer: Jeremy Sinclair, Art Director: Bill Atherton.

Casting.
Shoot day.

Outtakes.

The bill.

First bits of P.R.


HEADLINERS – Bridge-Levin.
Writer: Dan Levin, Art Director: Brian Bridge.
RANGE ROVER – Pritchard Wood.
Writer: Dan Levin, Art Director: Brian Bridge.

Aer Lingus – CDP.
‘Tipperary’ – Writer: Lindsay Dale, Art Director: Alan Waldie.

BOAC- FCB.
Writer: Tim Mellors, Art Director: Martin Reaveley.

BRITISH LEYLAND – Saatchi & Saatchi.
Writer: Chris Martin, Art Director: John Hegarty.

DUNN & Co. – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: Terry Lovelock, Art Director: Dickie Dearing.

SCHICK – Saatchi & Saatchi.
Writer: Chris Martin, Art Director: John Hegarty.

P&O – DPBS.
Writer: (Unknown), Art Director: Bob Nisbet

ALAN BROOKING – Bridge-Levin.
Writer: Dan Levin, Art Director: Brian Bridge.
PIRELLI – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: , Art Director: Bob Isherwood.

UNIROYAL – DDB Paris.
Writer: (Unknown), Art Director: Alain Mounier.

ARMY – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: John Salmon, Art Director: Arthur Parsons.

There’s something very pleasing about that ad; the photo.
In particular, it’s order, but it was a reshoot, the first shot was this.

A year later, Alan got a chance to reshoot it.
So he bought all the vehicles as Dinky toys and plotted it out in minature.
Scaled up the measurements then reshot it.

TEXACO – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer & Art Director: Rion Collins.

(The assistant stand in for the lighting tests.

(They are then replaced by James and his mum.)

ROYAL NAVY – KMP.
Writer: Alan Tilby, Art Director: Jonathan Hall.

THE METROPOLITAN POLICE – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: John Kelley, Art Director: John O’Driscoll.

FIAT – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
‘Wolf’ – Writer: Tony Brignull, Art Director: Neil Godfrey.

‘Grrrr!’ – Writer: John Kelley, Art Director: John O’Driscoll.

‘Italians’ – Writer: Tony Brignull, Art Director: Neil Godfrey.

BMW – Wight Collins Rutherford Scott.
Writer: Robin Wight, Art Director: Ron Collins.

BENSON & HEDGES – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: Alfredo Marcantonio, Art Director: Dave Horry.

The model. (Guy Hodgkinson.)
The studio.
Before photoshop, yep, there was a time before Photoshop, photographers would often have to capture the image on one sheet of film.
Like this.

HONDA – Needham Harper Steers.
Writer: (Unknown), Art Director: Paul Walter.

To get this lighting on the car required an enormous studio, (Alan talks about it on the podcast).
LONG JOHN WHISKY – Abbott Mead Vickers.
Writer: John Kelley, Art Director: John O’Driscoll.

BIRDS EYE – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: Tony Brignull, Art Director: Neil Godfrey.

LEVI’S – Bartle Bogle Hegarty.
Writer: Barbara Nokes, Art Director: John Hegarty.
The creators check out the finished result. They look pleased.



LAND ROVER – Collett Dickenson Pearce.
Writer: Lynda McDonnell, Art Director: Nigel Rose.

After seeing the layout Alan decided to shoot it in the studio. (Not an obvious choice.)


CITROEN – Colman & Partners.
Writer: Malcolm Duffy, Art Director: Paul Briginshaw.
TETLEY’S BITTER – Leagas Delaney.
Writer: (Unknown), Art Director: Anthony Stileman.


Alan has a book out:  
It’s available at Amazon.co.uk and here:

https://www.ypdbooks.com/792_alan-brookinghttps://www.ypdbooks.com/792_alan-brooking