Recent Publication: Time Out magazine

Tis the season - for Panto! This spread is from a recent commission to shoot Mr.Clive Rowe at the Hackney Empire Theatre. Clive is known as the queen (I'm sure he won't mind me saying this) of the Pantomime Dame scene in London and the article centred around the fact that a lot of tourists apparently don't 'get' Panto.
This tongue in cheek piece was about informing our foreign visitors how to behave whilst attending a Pantomime. According to the copy our American cousins are the most baffled by proceedings and try to shh people next to them when everyone is shouting out 'he's behind you' or whatever (bless them).
I arrived during a general press call and was asked to get a shot of him in his dressing room wagging his finger at the camera apparently telling off the viewer. I was told I'd have 15 minutes with him in his dressing room before he needed to get ready for the matinee performance. Note: however much time you are told you have with a subject to shoot, divide that figure by three. This is almost always the case. So I figured I had 5 minutes to shoot him in his dressing room which would be fine.

While I waited for the performers to appear on stage I had a wander around the old theatre, it was starting to show it's age a bit but that just added to the charm of the place. After a quick discussion with the Theatres P.R I discoverd that due to a breakdown in communication with the writer of the piece (who was doing the interview by phone due to a tube strike) I did infact have a total of 0 mintues to shoot Mr.Rowe in his dressing room due to this being the first he'd heard about it and Mr.Rowe not really having any spare time.
No panic, after he'd finished the press call on stage for the other photographers I leapt up onto stage, introduced myself, let him know the shots I had planned and shot a few images of him on stage - it was well lit and made for a second bonus location the picture desk were not expecting. We then went to his dressing room and spent a few minutes getting some more images again as the magazine had specified (head and shoulders, wagging finger, get a sense of the location in the background). Mr.Rowe being a seasoned performer gave me just the images I had in mind and after a cup of tea with the lovely people who worked backstage at the Empire it was back home to edit.
After the image delivery the magazine let me know that the image would be running 'big' in the magazine - always a bonus, plus apparently I had great feedback from the Theatre saying they were impressed with how 'quick' I was during the shoot, well, I never really had the chance to dordle even if I'd wanted to!

Lately...

Working as a photographer, some months you can find your work taking you to strange and exotic places, or in the company of politicians and celebrities. Other months can find the majority of your shoots of a less exciting nature.
November saw for me mostly corporate commissions such as roundtable discussions and conferences where the need for mainly 'tight and bright' images of the speakers and sitters ruled out the chance of much creative input.
But don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining, that's just how it goes... I'm always aware that I earn a living doing the thing I love and I'll never get complacent about that.
Aside from this, the last month has seen me arranging portfolio reviews with prospective new clients and also organising a month long trip overseas for early in the new year. I've also made the switch to Lightroom 3 from Camera Raw for my post production so learning the in's and out's of the program will keep me busy up until the annual, much appreciated, Christmas shut down.

Greve Generale

While the law to reform the retirement age has been passed by the French government the French people are still in uproar, this could be seen during this Thursdays demonstration held in central Paris where thousands of people took to the streets to make their voices heard. The march started at the Place de Republique and continued along the Boulevard Haussman ending at the Place Saint Augustin. Recently the protests had turned violent with the French police forcibly breaking picket lines and, controversially, attacking occupying high school students with C.S gas and batton rounds. The police presence was noticeable but thankfully there was no real trouble. One new thing I did learn is that you can use distress flares to burn messages into cobblestones...













More of my images from the days demonstration in Paris can be seen for syndication on Alamy.com via this link

Grande Mosquée de Paris

In the fifth arrondissement just behind the Jardin des Plantes you can find the Grande Mosquée de Paris. It was built in 1922 to honour the North African countries that helped France during the first World War. It is still very much an active place of worship but it's central courtyard and gardens are open to the public

Notre Dame

I'm back in Paris this week for a short break, whilst out the other day around the Notre Dame cathedral I came across this piece of tourist entertainment - chap grabs a cute child from the crowd and places a piece of food in their hands upon which the local sparrows take their cue and fly up to get at it en mass, the family crowd round to take pictures, man gets a few coins as payment for the photo opportunity and the birds for their part get a free meal - everybody happy

Recent Publication: Time Out magazine

Recent Shoot: Benji B

A recent portrait shoot with the Radio 1Xtra DJ Benji B for Time Out magazine. The picture desk had asked for an urban setting and the choice was down to me, as the weather forecast for that day was rain I decided that the Southbank would be an ideal setting.
The vast decaying Southbank centre provided plenty of urban settings that were also under cover from the elements. The man himself had set aside an hour for the shoot so we had plenty of time to try various different locations which were all visually quite different from one another

New Portfolio

I've recently put together my new portfolio with the inclusion of many new pieces of work. The portfolio mainly showcases my reportage work concentrating on a selected number of stories, then there are some singles and travel photography finishing up with a few published covers and spreads.
The page above shows an image of a stage performer shot in Paris at the famous 'Lido' cabaret while on commission for a travel guide last summer. More images from this can be seen below

Paris: Tough Love

Known as 'the city of light', Paris is one of the most widely visited cities on earth. It's architecture is famed the world over and this is coupled with it's reputation for fine dining and romance. Like most things the reality can be a little different. I recently became aware of a medical condition called 'Paris Syndrome' which seems to particularly affect people from Japan - arriving in Paris Japanese visitors are so shocked to find that the harsh reality of Paris is so completely different from the magical image they had been led to believe that they have a sort of nervous breakdown ending with their embassy having to take charge to repatriate them back to their homeland.
I have spent a lot of time in Paris and when living there I tended to live in the, how shall I put it, less exclusive parts of the city. Of the many commissions I have carried out for magazines and guidebooks across the city there are areas I have never been asked to photograph. These parts of Paris, especially the 10th arrondissement, have largely been ignored and forgotten by both Parisians and guidebooks alike. I decided I wanted to get some images concerning this, showing the parts of Paris that others choose to ignore. Ironically these were the parts of the city I knew best, the image above was taken a few meters from the front door of my old flat on the Boulevard de Magenta between Gare du Nord and Gare de L'Est, having spent some time away from the area this far from uncommon sight now made quite an impact on me. The writing above the unfortunate soul in the shot also acted as a catalyst for me as it juxtaposed the reputation Paris has as a city of romance and the uncomfortable reality of life for some in the city.
Below are a few more shots on the theme, I'm in Paris regularly so this project I feel warrants being expanded upon.

iPhone Paris

Another good reason to use Canon...

*If you use Canon products you'll definitely want to read this post*

Canon for me, lead the way. Apart from being ahead of the game with technological advances compared to their competitors they also like to look after their customers.
One great example of this is their CPN: Canon Professional Network website, this site has a wealth of information on new and existing Canon products, interviews with photographers, opportunities to promote your work and reports from current festivals such as their extensive coverage from the Visa pour l'image annual photojournalism festival held in Perpignan earlier this month.
Apart from all this, and most importantly, you can also join their Canon Professional Services programme which entitles you to prioritised repairs to your equipment at any Canon pro centre anywhere across Europe with a guaranteed turnaround time and free replacement equipment loan in the interim. At large events, such as the current London fashion week, Canon will have a pro centre on site so if your lens gets smashed or your SLR develops a fatal fault you can simply visit the centre to get your equipment mended or a replacement loaned and carry on shooting.
Having this to call upon is a fantastic service and in many respects priceless, which brings me on to the cost of this service: nothing - it's absolutely free. All you need to do is have at least 2 qualifying bodies and 3 qualifying lenses to become a member of the programme.
As a member you also get sent a great quarterly magazine which is full of showcases of photographers work and information on the latest Canon developments. A direct link to apply to join the Canon Professional Services can be seen here and the Canon Professional Network site can be viewed by anyone, even Nikon users...

Paris: Pension reform demonstration

A selection of images from last Tuesdays demonstration in Paris against the proposed raising of the age of retirement from 60 to 65. The route of the march was from Republique to Bastille and then onto place du Nation, the turnout was huge and most of the time I was on the Boulevard Beaumarchais between the start and mid point. All of the unions and left wing parties were out in force to make their voices heard, at one point I found myself inadvertently walking into the middle of a press call for the leaders of the French Socialist party with the subsequent crush of people creating a real headache for their security.
More images from the day can be seen via this link on Alamy.com