Gillian Anderson and Alan Rickman among self-portraits in celebrity photographer Ben McMahon's exhibition

Celebrity photographer Benjamin McMahon handed over his camera to his subjects and told them to take their own self-portrait.

The result — more than 50 pictures of famous faces from Dame Judi Dench and Gillian Anderson to Met Police boss Cressida Dick — is on show this weekend.

McMahon said the pictures, which are “less selfie, more self-portrait”, came out of his frustration at having to take pictures so quickly.

He said: “Sometimes I have only five or ten minutes to meet and photograph a person.

“I started to wonder if it was possible to make an honest picture of a person in such a short time. Was it possible for me to make a picture of them that was different. Were they just giving me the same photo face or pose they would give to the next photographer?

“I began asking people to make their own pictures at the end of our shoot. A self-portrait. This way, I thought, they would be in charge. They would choose how to be represented and how they are seen. I wondered if I gave control over to them if I would get something else, something better, something more honest.”

Benjamin McMahon: Not Myself is at Elephant West at 62 Wood Lane, West London, until November 17