Bullet Proofing

Old footage of Saudi Arabia’s founding king visiting Bahrain showed guards standing on the runners of the royal car. My father explained that this was how they used to bulletproof vehicles in those days—with human shields. I was fascinated and horrified and wanted to capture the moment. A friend’s uncle was a car collector and, incredibly, happened to have one of the king’s old Rolls-Royces in his garage. Her brother posed as the king, my driver as the driver, and I found a man who looked like the one in the footage to stand on the runner in full costume. I was so taken by his face that I forgot to depict his feet, so it’s not clear that he’s meant to be standing on a moving vehicle.