Andy Gotts

Degrees

Andy Gotts is noted for his magnum opus 'Degrees'. This was a coffee table book inspired by the game, the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. He wrote to 300 actors asking to take their pictures, and received permission from one, Joss Ackland. Ackland then suggested that Gotts photograph Greta Scacchi, with whom he had appeared in the film White Mischief. Gotts proceeded from there, asking each actor to refer him to one or more friends or colleagues.

Each actor Gotts photographed then suggested a best friend, or someone they really admired, as the next person. This gave a chain of 'who knows who'. Dustin Hoffman suggested Brad Pitt, Brad suggested George Clooney, George suggested Julia Roberts, Julia suggested Susan Sarandon, Susan suggested Paul Newman, Paul suggested...etc. Two weeks before he died Sir Alan Bates wrote a text for Gotts' Degrees - it was his last penned work - and is included as a foreword. Sir Alan had suggested Pierce Brosnan as his 'connection', and Pierce has written a tribute to him. As an afterword, Kevin Bacon himself plays the 'six degrees' game, linking himself back to Sir Alan Bates, by just using the actors photographed for the book.

Proceeds from the book sale of 'Degrees' and print sales are being donated to diabetes research.

Savoy Hotel

Gotts' recent project is based around the history of the Savoy Hotel, London, England.

In December 2007 the Savoy Hotel was closed down for two years for a total revamp. Gotts spent a period of time photographing different rooms and items from the hotel, with each image containing a celebrity to highlight the glamorous lifestyle of the Savoy; but none of the celebrities have been named in the project as it is the Savoy that is the star of the photography and the celebrities are just props used to decorate the rooms or anecdotes. Normally it is the celebrities that are the main feature of Gotts' photographs; so it was fantastic to view the famous people as only supporting artists to the Savoy's leading part.

Master of Arts

In 2007 Gotts was awarded a Master of Arts from De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.