Mimi Galore , otherwise known as Denise ‘The Lady’ Flower, is a photographer who creates dazzling photographs in collaboration with the sitter. When you arrange to be ‘Mimified’ you never know how the photo will turn out. And that’s what makes a Mimi session so interesting.

I first met Ms Flower walking past Finsbury Square. We’d been introduced a couple of times, I follow her on social media and I’d heard stories about her from friends over the years, so I already had a sense of what she was like. She’s always struck me as one of the coolest women in town. As we were passing Denise stopped and said, ‘Clayton?’ and I replied, ‘Denise?’ And that was it. We got chatting, arranged coffee, had lunch and now we meet a couple of times a week. At my age, there aren’t many people that come into my life that I ‘take in’. London can make you quite insular that way and Londoners tend to stick to small circles. But Denise was too creative to pass by. Her mind is a mass of thoughts and observations. A typical lunch date will find us in a Hoxton kebab shop talking literature, book prizes, art exhibitions, photography, graffiti art, intermingled with general gossip and plans about how we will one day rule the world. I always leave our meetings energised and full of ideas. So when she asked me if I would like to be ‘Mimified’ I deleted everything else in my diary and said, ‘I’m yours. Take me!’

The photo above was taken in my back garden. As I have total confidence in Ms Flower’s vision I left everything to her. She said, ‘We are going to invite a number of you to your garden party.’ I merely slipped into a velvet number, asked the husband to suggest a suitable tie and shirt and then I posed as me, enjoying an afternoon with me.

If you would like Ms Flower to weave her magic on you, you can contact her at the Mimi Galore Facebook page or email: denise@mimigalore.com

Here’s to your Mimi!