The Bachelorette

Wednesday June 29th, 2011

Since moving to East Asia almost 14 years ago, David Hagerman has been pretty disconnected from American pop culture. Being cut off from American TV, it was a surprise to receive an email from Disney ABC studios asking him to shoot stills for a show. It intrigued David that the assignment was so secretive and that they couldn’t disclose the title of the project. Typically a travel and food photographer, this job piqued David’s interest and he accepted.

Once on board, David made his way to the shoot location, Chiang Mai, Thailand. He had little inclination of what exactly he’d be shooting,

It was all very mysterious. I knew I would be shooting stills for a show, but somehow I was under the impression it would be a Disney production. They used a pseudonym, so I had the idea it would be some sort of madcap caper show aimed at teenagers.

When on the bus I asked one of the crew, “So what is this show?” He told me and I said, “OK. So what’s that?” He started laughing and those around us started giggling. They looked at me as if they were wondering what planet I was from. Then he sort of explained the show, but it didn’t make much sense. In the end, it didn’t matter. I’m a photographer and I was there to photograph.

Dave Hagerman/ABC

The show ended up being The Bachelorette, an American reality program where a woman simultaneously dates 25 men, all vying for a chance to propose. David would be shooting stills of the cast of Season 7 while they filmed episode 5. The episode had the bachelorette, Ashley Hebert, and her suitors traveling to Chiang Mai where the men partake in Muay Thai fighting. According to David, “the guys seemed quite surprised when they were told they would box each other. By mid-afternoon the set was looking more like ‘Survivor’ than the ‘Dating Game’.”

The shoot was interesting, but not without its challenges,

When the group moved to the boxing stadium in a samlor—a local van/taxi, I positioned myself in the front of the crew van and asked the driver to stay as close as possible. I was then able to hang myself out the window and get shots of the guys as they cruised through Chiang Mai’s busy streets. For my part, I was pleased that I got clean shots and managed not to fall out the window or get bumped off by a careening motorcycle.

However, it was exhausting. It was hot and I was constantly on the move from about the time we started until we wrapped. I was sweating buckets and have never been so glad to get in a tuk-tuk as I was that evening. The beer I had back at my lodging tasted great.

Dave Hagerman/ABC