183: The Good Listening To Show with Chris Grimes - Episode 183183: The Good Listening To Show with Chris Grimes - Episode 183
UK Health Radio Podcast
Photographer Andy "One Shot" Gotts shares stories of John Hurt, Sidney Poitier and other icons, reflecting on art, character and creative resilience. The conversation touches on legacy, kindness and what it means to stay fully yourself in a career built on famous faces.
45:07•22 Aug 2026
Faces, Legends and Staying True: Andy "One Shot" Gotts on Art, Fame and Grit
Episode Overview
- Holding firm to a unique artistic style can matter more than pleasing critics or fitting into a commercial box.
- Relationships built on generosity and trust, like Andy’s bond with John Hurt, can reshape creative direction for life.
- Sidney Poitier’s story shows how one act of fairness from Tony Curtis opened doors for generations of Black actors.
- Creative careers often involve long periods of rejection, where the key is to "stand up, keep moving forward" despite the blows.
- Kindness, authenticity and a refusal to edit out the truth in a face are central to how Andy wants to be remembered: "The Ansel Adams of faces."
“You’re more than a photographer. I see you. You’re more than a photographer.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of creativity, legacy and sheer graft from Hollywood’s favourite photographer, Andy "One Shot" Gotts. On The Good Listening To Show, host Chris Grimes invites Andy into the metaphorical clearing to talk about faces, fame and what it means to stay true to your art. You’ll hear an extraordinary story about Sir John Hurt, who became both friend and mentor.
In a quiet Norfolk art studio, over "a pint of good wine", John reveals his cancer diagnosis and tells Andy, "You’re more than a photographer. I see you. You’re more than a photographer." He then asks Andy to direct him for the very first time, resulting in John’s final recorded performance: a priest reciting John Lennon’s "Imagine" in one take, filmed by a man who thought he "had never" directed anything.
That moment plants a lasting spark in Andy: a new drive to write and direct film. The conversation ranges through the artists and characters who light Andy up: L. S. Lowry’s stubborn commitment to his own style, Hitchcock’s uncompromising work ethic, and Sidney Poitier’s remarkable journey from a shanty village in the Bahamas to breaking ground in Hollywood with the help of Tony Curtis’s insistence on equal billing.
There’s plenty of humour too: from Bob Ross–style "happy little clouds" painted during lockdown to the surprise revelation that Andy spent three years as a nightclub bouncer to fund his photography degree. Throughout, he keeps returning to one simple idea: "This is my style. This is how I want to photograph.
I’m not going to be fit in a box." If you’re creative, curious about fame, or just love a good story about sticking to your guns, this conversation might leave you asking yourself: where in your life could you "be yourself" a bit more boldly?
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