No self-pity, no fear: a hostage sets new standards for British sangfroid | Jonathan Jones

In requesting a photo with his EgyptAir hijacker, Ben Innes displayed surreal genius and cool under pressure worthy of a John le Carré hero

Ah, the British. Cool under pressure. In the John le Carré-based TV drama The Night Manager that recently ended, an Englishman kept his head so well that he brought down an arms smuggling business. Le Carré attacks the establishment, but his heroes are romantic embodiments of the best British values, still trying to be decent in an indecent world: “Poor loves. Trained to Empire, trained to rule the waves …”, as Beryl Reid described them in the 1979 BBC version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Now along comes another British hero keeping his cool in a mad age – or perhaps, embracing its madness. In a picture that no artist would be daring enough to stage, 26-year-old Ben Innes from Aberdeen grins merrily next to hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa, who looks politely at the camera while wearing what appears to be a suicide belt.

Related: Ben Innes on taking a 'selfie' with the EgyptAir hijacker

The brilliance of this picture is that it treats being held hostage by a man wearing a suicide belt as a social moment

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