Back from the Balkans...

Arrived back in the UK last night, after having spent a month in Pristina working in Kosovo on the run up to independence. Was a very interesting month and I was lucky enough to have a feature with World Picture News and also to do a commission through them for the Financial Times (UK) that saw me working in Tirana, Albania. I will start to post images up, but the story is not yet finished and ultimately I hope to make a mutlimedia piece...so watch this space. Keep an eye on my flickr page for updates of single images.

Just before I flew out I was lucky enough to have some work on the BBC website and that has meant that my own website has taken a considerable number of hits over the last month or so. So much so in fact that I've incurred a penalty! - however it has led to interesting propositions of work and projects for the new year. In January I aim to update and tweak the website and then I shall hopefully be figuring out my next trip for February or March time.

If I don't update this before then I wish you all a seasons greetings and a happy new year.

London Burlesque Festival 2007

Was lucky enough to photograph the London Burlesque Festival this year, held the Revue Bar Soho, and these are two pictures from a whole bunch that we took of the punters. Pure ringflash and the venue's nice felt textured walls.

yet more fashion...

Seem to be doing a lot of fashion, which would be great if I could get it to start paying the bills. Anyway this was from a test shoot I did last week in a pent house luxury apartment in London Bridge. Was the first time I used by new Elinchrom D-Lite 2's which was exciting. Hoping to get a Vagabond battery back soon so that I start them to more adventurous locations.

Wedding togs....

And another...

Another shot from the film set I was on a few weeks ago...

Film set shoot

Shot I took this weekend of the actor Tim Watson Mitchell. I was shooting stills on the set of the film 'Miles Away' in a studio in South London.

Strobist: 580EX into brolly camera right, 580EX behind the actor camera left and a big old light from the film set in the background to flare the lens.

New multimedia slideshow

The other day I took part in a three day conference at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor, I was asked to present a photo story to a group of International Relations Phd students from the across the UK, France and the US. After realising the expense of a printed exhibition I decided to try a multimedia presentation using the Soundslides plus programme. It was quite a last minute thing and I have to say a big thanks to Edward Bainton who helped greatly by composing an audio track. The presentation went quite well except for the techy cock-up for the first 20 minutes (eek...I figured anyone who was left after that mess was bound to be genuinely interested). Anyway luckily although my laptop wouldn't seem to work with the projector, I'd put it online as a last minute afterthought literally as I was leaving my flat, thus I was able to use their laptop and wireless connection to show it. After the showing there were about five or six questions from the floor which I tried to answer as intellectually as I could (hey I was dealing with an audience of phd students...). All in all it was a really interesting experience though and great to get feedback. You can click the above image to view the slideshow online.

Fashion - An old one re-edited

Profile portrait

Reverend Dr Richard Burridge, Dean of King's College London. 25/09/07

Recent Studio shoot...

Yet another studio shoot that I've done recently...there's only so much I can do with two lights and a black cloth set up in someone's bedroom...

Anyway there's more on flickr if people are interested.

'One Way Ticket' in Perpignan

Camerman, Justin Brown and Director, Rob Brown, part of White Latern Film, during filming of the documentary 'One Way Ticket'. Perpignan, France, Sept 2007. The documentary is about the life of the Vietnam war photographer Cathy Leroy, and the team followed me on my journey of discovery about her. This meant we had to head to Perpignan to interview other photographers who knew and worked with her, it also meant that we were able to speak to her mother who still lives in a small town just north of Paris. Bit wierd for me to be on the other side of the camera but I'm still looking forward with nervous intrepidation to seeing the final cut.

Tammam fairtrade fashion

Syria and Lebanon

From the top: Street scene, Homs, Syria
Carpenter in his workshop, Homs, Syria
Street scene, Damascus, Syria
Street scene, Aleppo, Syria
Boys jumping from a bridge into the Euphrates, Deir ez Zur, Syria
Palestinian children, Al-Bas refugee camp, Tyre, Lebanon

Syria and Lebanon

Back in London after an amazing month of travelling around Syria and Lebanon. As you can imagine I took loads of photos but literally the day after I was back I was shooting a wedding and then over the past few days I've had shoots galore so I haven't found anytime to go through the shots yet but I hope to start later this week. Watch this space!...

Fashion shoots

Done a couple of fashion shoots lately for fairtrade labels. Have been trying just to use natural light recently because it suits the product a bit better, so far it seems to have worked out (and it's a lot simpler than mucking around with flash ratios!).

Wedding 21.07.07

A couple of the slightly more interesting shots from a wedding I shot this weekend. Been working round the clock to get the stuff edited and finished off before I head off to Beirut.

Polaroids

Top: Me and a lovely pint of guinness taken on my wierd ghosting polaroid camera
Bottom: The photographers David Azia and Dirk-Jan Visser in a pub in London. Absolutely no idea what the ghosting image is of, for a start there was no TV in the pub or on the pevious frame...very wierd. I love my polaroid, it's so unpredictable...I just wish the damn film wasn't so expensive.

Published in the Evening Standard

This is one of my images of the boy band Blake, who I shot some promo shots for a couple of months ago. I was really ill on the day of the shoot having just recovered from a fever. Anyway in my opinion this was in no way one of the best pictures from the day but still it got picked by the press department at Universal records and sent out to the press (here it's being used uncredited suprise surprise in the Evening Standard). It was only after reading the article that I realised that the band have now been picked up for a £1 million record deal with Universal...

New 50mm f/1.4

Couple of beers and a lazy afternoon and evening at the Lambeth Country fair in Brockwell park let me experiment with my new toy, the Canon 50mm f/1.4. Seems pretty nice but a bot soft around the edges wide open, still its nice to have a 50mm again after I managed to smash my old one by dropping it on an old coal heap.

Graduation

Graduating students at Kings College London held at the Barbican centre, London.

MP Andy Burnham

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Andy Burnham, Giving a speech at Kings College London 18/07/07. Had to stick a flash on the balcony at the back of the lecture theatre to give a slightly more interesting light. These events make me realise however how much I need to get a decent 70-200 f/2.8, especially now that I'm shooting full frame with the 5D.

The Vegemite Tales - Press shots

Some shots done for the West End production of 'The Vegemite Tales' due to start it's second season in London soon. Shot in tight time-frame one rainy weekday morning in Brixton at their rehearsal space. The two head shots are of the Auzzie actors Blair Mcdonough (top) and Jonathon Dutton (both of ex-neighbours stars)

Wedding

Shot a lovely wedding last week in Derbyshire - needless to say I've spent the last couple of days editing away. Slowely getting through the hundreds of photos I took. It's events and shoots like this that really highlight the need for logical work flow, especially when working with RAW. I'm sure I could improve mine for time efficiency but then again there are many ways to skin a cat (...not that I've tried it before you call the RSPC)

train window: London

Independent: Education supplement, 5th July 2007

I got published today with The Independent. The photos shot for Kings appeared in the education supplement. I was pleasantly surprised how big they used the image with it taking up well over half a page. I got told about 5 mins before shooting it that Independent might need a picture, which put extra pressure on an already tight shoot, so I'm glad I got something that someone thought was good enough to be use big.
It's been an interesting week; met with a good friend and fellow photographger Andrew Youngson for a coffee the other day, and ended up dropping by Martin Parr's studio off Old Street. The man himself greeted us when we arrived with the query 'Marie Claire?' to which we responded that we were actually dropping by to see a friend of Andrew's who works for him, and were not in fact from the glossy magazine. Very surreal. In the last couple of weeks and months I've met more icons in photography than I thought I ever would.

Access to Medecine

Stella Adesoye and Linda Onyema, two students from Kings College London who have recently graduated in Medecine having been part of the Extended Medical Degree Programme (EMDP). The EMDP is the UK's first widening participation medical degree course and is aimed at pupils from low achieving schools in London who have the ability and desire to become doctors. Photographed near Guy's Hosptial, London. 28/06/07

Ashmob!

My good friend Alexi Duggins (picture top left) has created the first ever 'Ashmob', an event much like a flashmob designed to bring both smokers and non smokers together for smoke (or not in my case) a dance and then to quickly disperse (or in this case to be moved along by the security guards in Covent Garden). The first event was organised for 1st July because it was a day that saw a country-wide ban being brought into place for smoking in public areas.

Ian Parry judging

Some quick snaps from the Ian Parry judging. (top) Philip Blenkinsop. (middle) Tom Stoddart throws a quick smirk to camera during an in-depth conversation with the Sunday Times Magazine picture editor Monica Allende. (bottom) Simon Roberts