Former British army soldier turned artist Bran Symondson says he would like to do to Bollywood what he has done to Hollywood - shoot, literally, at portraits of stars carrying weapons to make a point about the excessive glamorisation of gun culture in movies.

He has done precisely that with portraits of Brigitte Bardot, Roger Moore, Frank Sinatra, Michael Caine and other famous folk taken by the legendary British photographer, Terence Patrick O’Neill, who died in London on November 16, aged 81.

“Terry”, as he was popularly known, allowed Symondson to take away 11 images selected from the photographer’s huge archive accumulated over 60 years and shoot at them to demonstrate the destructive impact of guns.

In the holes made by bullets, Symondson pinned real butterflies “because obviously butterflies are symbolic of people’s souls”.

Butterfly collection is quite an established pastime in England. Symondson says he gets them when they have died naturally and then rehydrates them. “I buy them from a butterfly supplier - they are mainly farmed,” he explains.

The O’Neill/Symondson exhibition, Hollywood Re-Loaded, at the Hofa Gallery in London’s upmarket Mayfair was extended as a tribute to Terry after his passing.

Symondson revealed he would like to repeat the exercise with Bollywood images because guns are glamorised just as much in commercial Hindi cinema.

“I would absolutely love to do that,” he said. “I would probably need to reach out and find some Bollywood contacts and see if I can do an exhibition like that in India. That would be amazing.”

He explained: “I wasn’t looking at the film industry to blame for gun culture. I was just fascinated how the glorification of weapons comes through cinema and impacts on to society and how weapons within films - even in Bollywood films - have very impactful styling.”

Sent a selection of images of Bollywood stars posing with guns - these included Salman Khan from Tiger Zinda Hai and Dabangg 2 and Jackie Shroff from God and Gun, for example - Symondson reacted with enthusiasm.

“I found it very interesting looking at the Bollywood posters and the interaction with weapons,” he responded.

“Although I’m very aware of Bollywood films, I’m not so current with some of the actors. But it does seem that weapons are an international language, and the statement made in the film posters mirrors film posters I know.

“The relationship with how the character holds the weapon I feel glorifies the gun to a point that the weapon in the image almost takes on a character itself.

“Would be amazing to apply the same technique I used in Hollywood Re-Loaded and create a Bollywood Re-Loaded,” Symondson added.

Terry’s CV released by his studio, Iconic Images, said he defined the 1960s by working with the likes of “Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Terence Stamp, Jean Shrimpton, Tom Jones, and ending the decade with Frank Sinatra. Terry was also one of the first photographers to work with a new franchise starring Sean Connery as James Bond. Terry went on to work on several Bond films throughout the decades, including several with Roger Moore.”

Symondson, who left the army in 2010 having served in Afghanistan - “I was a photographer as well” - received Terry’s blessings when he approached the photographer with his idea. Terry also approved of the finished images just days before he died.

Asked whether he was commenting on America’s mad obsession with guns, Symondson replied: “There is a touch of that - the whole narrative of this project was to show the voyeur the actual impact that a bullet from that gun has. So one of my ex-military friends painstakingly traced all the weapons that feature in those images.

“So with 007 Roger Moore we got the PPK pistol that he is holding. The one with Michael Caine - the shotgun from the film Get Carter - is a side by side hammer action shotgun. With Brigitte Bardot we tracked down the old Remington pistol which was power loaded with a ball.

“Then we went to a range, a secret location in Devon, with all these weapons - this guy works a lot with the police, the army and the film industry so he is allowed to have a gun licence. Then we set up the 30in by 40in images and shot them with those specific weapons.”

He felt the bullet holes had somehow transformed the images, particularly the Michael Caine and Frank Sinatra portraits. “The expression they originally had in the original photographs that Terry took they were almost changed - they were almost reacting to the bullet strikes happening around them.

“The idea was I would then embellish the photographs with real butterflies - yes, they are real butterflies. I rehydrate them and pin the wings to position them where I want them to be. I then place them on the photographs because obviously butterflies are symbolic of people’s souls. I thought it was quite nice that the butterflies were interacting with the actual bullet strikes themselves.”