Serbian building site, Mitrovica, Kosovo. Nov/Dec 2007

I took these to photos in North Mitrovica in Kosovo. At the time it was a small Serbian enclave that Belgrade was evidently trying to strengthen in the light of Kosovo's highly anticipated claim for independence toward the end of 2007, early 2008. Mitrovica was divided by the river Ibar, the north being mainly Serbian whilst the south bank consisted more of Kosovo Albanian residents. During the war the bridge had become a focal point of the troubles, with frequent sniper attacks and after the war 'Bridge watchers' on the northern bank, Serbian thugs who were ready to hand out a 'Kosovo Kiss' to anyone who strayed into the wrong area. The builders in the above photo were from Belgrade, sent down to Mitrovica to build apartments right on the river bank with the hope of enticing Serbs to move down and live in them, thus strengthening the Serb position in the region.

I don't know why but I still really like the top photo - I think it's the slightly hectic composition. I imagine I'd been looking at too much work by Alex Webb or someone. Anyway the rest of the images from that series is up online and you can view it here.

Recent photoshoot: Jeff Bridges

This was a shoot that I had come through just before Christmas - the type of assignment that gets you immediately excited and on a high, but at the same time put's you on edge as you start planning the shoot and going through various scenarios in your head. Of course with any job like this there's only so much you can plan, everything remains fluid. As it was we were the last people of the day to get a slot with Jeff and we had to fit an interview and a photoshoot into precisely 10 minutes! I knew the image was going to run in black and white which removed a number of problems (the room we were in had about 3 types of lighting and the walls were terrible terracotta brown - the whole set up looked like a fake Roman villa). The black and white therefore was a blessing, however I had to figure how to add some drama with the lighting. Being that we were shooting an actor with fairly distinctive features I knew I could afford for his face to be partly in shadow and for him to still be recognisable. But of course any complicated light set up is not ideal when you have such a short time slot with the talent, mainly because it limits how much they can move (especially when you're working, as I was, unassisted and have to therefore move all the lights yourself!). To add to that I had get the shiniest award I've ever seen, in shot, whilst still being able to read logo on it. Needless to say, it gave me a lot to think about and not much time to engage that much with 'the dude'. But what can you do - sometimes in those situations you just need to slip into autopilot and make sure you get the job done. 

I have a new website!!

Yes that's right I've finally got a new website - it's been about 3 months in the making (the fun of trying to fit a project in around a busy work schedule) but it's finally here. It has a new 'Moving Image' section which you can expect to be updated as various projects come back from the edit suite. It also has a Personal section which my old site didn't have, allowing me to put some of my projects that don't seem to fit anywhere else. You'll also find a lot of new work on there.

Please check it out and let me know what you think! www.gregfunnell.com

Delving into 'Moving Image'

Here's a video I shot early last year for Henry Herbert Tailoring. All shot on the 5D mkII. Thanks go to Luke and Danfung for helping with the camera work and Riccardo for some excellent editing.

For those interested here's some quick behind the scenes snaps - firstly my camera in a very makeshift scooter rig (I was very nervous about this!), and secondly the epic customised glidecam rig Danfung brought to the party.

Another version of a shot I posted earlier on the blog here. This one was shot on the Mamiya 7.

Midnight is a place

Had some film back from the lab yesterday, which is always a mixture of excitement, tinged with dread (at the prospect of all the scanning). This is an image from an ongoing personal series titled 'Midnight is a place'.

Reading Festival

One from Reading festival last year, fans waiting for Mumford and Sons to come on stage. Contax T2

Blackfriars bridge

Blackfriars Bridge on another foggy London day. Contax T2

Pristina, Kosovo 2007

Been trawling through my archives in prep for a major website overhaul. I found this image taken in some underground tunnels close to where I was staying in Pristina, Kosovo back in 2007.

Playwright: Richard Bean

Images from an assignment I had in early December photographing the English playwright Richard Bean. His latest work, The Heretic, opens at the Royal Court Theatre, 10 February 2011. It's on the theme of climate change and sure to cause some feisty debate...

Been photographing a lot of birds lately it seems...

Happy New Year...

Happy New year folks! - I took my 600SE out with me on new years eve. It's decidedly impractical for getting snaps with, and almost impossible to get someone else to take the photo and therefore get in the shot yourself! But to make up for it here's snap of me wielding the beast.