Article Posted: December 6, 2009
I shot a little beauty test recently with a fantastic French model called Anais Van Praet who is from Profile Model Management. Anais had really put in the hard work early by getting up at 3am to catch the Eurostar over from Paris to be on set with me in the morning. Despite her being undoubtedly incredibly tired, she soldiered on all day and by clicking here or on the pic above you can see some of the results of the day.
Make-up: Julia Wilson
Hair: Yuhi Kim
Assistant: Andras Bartok
Article Posted: July 5, 2009
I finished Uni a few weeks ago. It was a Graduate Diploma in Photographic Practice and I managed to finish with a distinction which was a nice surprise to end in. It came and went in a blink of an eye. I met some great people and learnt loads. We had our final end of course exhibition which was fantastic as we got to see a whole bunch of each others work. I even managed to sell some prints which was cool!
Anyway, this is to promote a new section on my portfolio – PROJECTS. Click on the pic above or check it out here. First project I’d like to share with ya’ll was in fact my final project for Uni which was what I exhibited and is what you can see being hung here in my little video. Enjoy!
Article Posted: July 2, 2009
I started retouching a series I shot on the weekend and I couldn’t resist a little taster of the series. Most of the shots we did were around a bridal theme, but more anti-bridal really. Cigars, stomping on flowers etc. But this was a quick little shot (off brief) we did at the start of the day and it worked out even better than it looked in my head.
The model for the shoot is the gorgeous Jess, make-up & hair by the mango loving, hand burning but 100% fabulous Alison and I was ably assisted by the wonderful Sime & the magnificent Andras.
There is a lot more to come, including a HiDef video of the day taken by Sime on his Canon 5D MkII.
Anyway, I just got a bit excited, so I thought I’d whack it up. Let me know what you think…
Article Posted: May 25, 2009
(Clicketyclick on the pics for a bigger view)
I was working on my final major project for Uni, trying to write something intelligent that vaguely resembled my shots. I hit a brick wall. Writers block. I have been looking at it so long now that I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. It didn’t help that the sun was streaming through the windows and the rest of London was out enjoying their solar drenched long weekend.
I brainsnapped. I shrugged off the shackles of my imminent deadline and decided to jump on a train armed with my camera and head down the coast to Brighton. A good mate of mine Adam Bronkhorst aka The Brownhorse had his first solo photography exhibition to coincide with the Brighton Fringe Festival. It was the perfect excuse to get out of the house, have a break from my work, and hopefully cure my cabin fever.
Adam together with a couple of guys own and run Garage Studios which is conveniently located a few minutes walk from the station. The guys have had this fabulous space up and running for about a year now and they have a fantastic mix of photography from Adam and co-owner DarkDaze, the hugely popular photography and lighting courses and of course studio hire.
As I came out of the station I saw the sea down the end of the road and I couldn’t resist the Death Star-like tractor beam pulling me down there. Being Australian, I grew up with the ocean being accessible and being a big part of my childhood and it’s one thing I do miss about being in London. Anyway, after I got my saltwater fix for the year I headed back towards Garage Studios where Adam’s exhibition was being held. It was called Primitive Pixels and took the viewer through a journey of taking a self portrait… with a twist. Despite these days having the capability of high resolution cameras, Adam opted for one of the earliest digital cameras he could get his hands on. An Apple Quicktake which is a whopping 0.3 of a megapixel hence the name of the exhibit. And amazingly, it’s not that old as it was widely available in the 90’s. Together with a stop frame video of the entire process, the room was filled with imagery of Adam testing the light and expressions till he was happy with the final result. It was also a bit of a salute to his 365 project which is where I originally came across Adam and his creative photography a couple of years ago.
Adam and his gorgeous wife Alison gave birth to little Alfie 2 months ago and I was lucky enough to get a hold of the dude. It is official, he has THE best hair of any baby I have ever seen. A completely natural mohican! Alison has been asked whether she puts a little product in his hair to get it looking like it is, but she assures me its completely natural. After grabbing a bite for dinner and having a peek at an exhibit of music photography by DarkDaze at the Prince Albert hotel, I headed back to the big smoke fully invigorated and recharged, ready to re-engage with my own project and finish it before Wednesday.
I dare say I won’t be waiting as long before I head down there again.
Article Posted: May 20, 2009
The English Magnum Photographer Martin Parr breezed into my University today to talk to us about his photography and his collections. Once the lecture theatre at the LCC was bursting at the seams with bodies, they shut the doors with security outside to prevent a complete overflow of people despite there being plenty more trying to get in.
Up to this point I can’t say I was a huge of fan of his work. I mean, I liked some of it, but I could easily leave a lot of it too. My curiosity got the better of me though and I had to go see what he had to say.
He began by speaking at length about his upcoming exhibition called ‘Parrworld’ which was of something other than his own photography. He has spent many years collecting odd pieces of memorabilia. Anything from metre high packets of cheesy snacks from the US to Thatcher toilet paper to Saddam Hussein watches. Of the latter, he believes he has the biggest collection of anyone on the planet! His collection also extended to Osama Bin Laden Cola Candy and a Gulf War board game with photos of George Bush Snr and Saddam on the box.
After hearing about his eclectic mix of artefacts, his photography actually began to make a little bit more sense to me. One of his biggest collections was of Postcards dating from the birth of postcards to about the 80’s. Some of his own photography I thought reflected some of the original ideals of postcard photography which was simple social documentary.
He has a good, almost dark sense of humour seeking to find irony in his imagery. Defining a moment in time with his photography. Perhaps the ultimate irony is my rubbish picture of the event above! A photographer taking a picture of a world renowned photographer and it being up there as being one of the worst pictures ever taken! Let’s not go there.
Anyway, I really enjoyed his talk. It’s a pity the questions asked of him at the end weren’t particularly interesting. “Why didn’t you ask one?” I can hear you say. I couldn’t think of anything very intelligent, so I kept my mouth closed! Am I Martin Parr convert? Hmmm… not sure. Perhaps now I have a better idea of context in regard to his photography and it therefor makes more sense, but I still wouldn’t call myself a huge fan despite being a big fan of the the Magnum posse. But he is obviously hugely successful and popular and just goes to show that photography – like any artform – is incredibly subjective.
Finally, here is a video taken at the LCC briefly talking about his collection.
