As a teenager and would-be actor, I became fascinated by the ability of real-life nice guys, such as Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Herbert Lom, to transform themselves into thoroughly nasty characters. In Attenborough's case, as Pinky in Brighton Rock.

I would disappear into the garage (my makeshift studio) with my Brownie camera to emulate their most menacing moments.

My fascination for cinema's bad boys has never left me and I recently got hooked on the idea of attempting to recreate some of the scenes from the films of my youth.

It was nice to experiment with different backgrounds and a luxury to use a radio-controlled camera instead of the old Brownie, which I had operated by pulling a piece of string, tied to the shutter-release button.

The pictures were mostly taken outdoors to take advantage of the better light, while avoiding any shadows from the sun.

My admiration for actors increased no end as I found myself crouching against the backdrop with my best menacing expression at 6.45 one cold morning.

-Michael Parker, Brighton