Rebecca Front for The Sunday Times Magazine
I was asked to photograph Rebecca Front for The Sunday Times Magazine. With such an impressive resume of roles, Rebecca can be regarded as TV, radio and comedy royalty. You may have seen her playing Colonel Walsh in Doctor Who or solving crimes in Lewis, but for me it was her part as head of DoSAC in the Thick of It that made me most excited. I’m a pretty big fan of that far-too-close to reality political comedy. Thanks Rebecca for diving into your roles in front of my camera and discussing everything from mental health to negronis with me. Thanks also to The Sunday Times Mag for the fun commission.
AOP Awards 2017
I’m thrilled to have three of my photographs included in this years Association of Photographers Awards in the advertising, editorial, and non-commissioned categories. The freckly stranger above was created on a Shoreditch street corner as part of a campaign for Wiley Fox with Hogarth & Ogilvey. We turned many still portraits into a fun and fast video capturing the energy of this young brand. Take a look at the results here: LINK My photograph of Ed Balls is in the editorial category. I had seventeen minutes to photograph him for The Sunday Times Magazine and we really made the most of it. See more from the shoot here: LINK And finally in the non-commissioned category is Marie looking amazing in her sunglasses. On this shoot I collaborated with homeless shelter The Passage to make portraits of their clients as part of a worldwide day using photography to give back to...
Women in the Forces for The Sunday Times Magazine
It was only after the helicopter had flown away that it really hit me. I had been lying on the grass with my camera photographing the underside of the aircraft hovering just metres above me. My focus was on getting the shot and I didn’t have time to be frightened… I was photographing women who have worked in war zones, on or beyond the front line – a medic who’s been in firefights with the Taliban, a Merlin pilot trained to survive when shot down in enemy territory, and a Chinook winch operator who’s flown all over Afghanistan. For the first time women are being allowed to train as foot soldiers, placed on the front line to fight the enemy. We were there to meet some of the women who have already been over that line but in other roles in the forces. It was amazing hearing their stories and...
17 minutes with Ed Balls – The Sunday Times Magazine
I have always enjoyed meeting interesting people and amazingly my job allows me to do just that – I still can’t believe my luck. Sometimes those people are unknown to most, sometimes they are well known, and sometimes they are people who are very well known for doing the cha cha cha. You see I was given seventeen minutes to meet Ed Balls. Not a huge amount of time, I admit, but enough to get to know the man, just a touch. I love the adrenaline rush I get from high intensity, short shoots. Everything becomes more exciting, more immediate. You have to get the job done, you have to make the most of what you get, and however much you plan you never quite know what’s going to happen. I might dive straight into a deep conversation, find myself getting shouted at down a loud hailer and discover the...
The Dickens Sisters for The Sunday Times Magazine
“Can I dress you up in Dickensian costumes?” “No way! That is taking it too far…” “Go on it will be great fun.” “No, that’s an awful idea.” “Please, I really do think it would look amazing.” “Well… um… maybe…if we were men and not women.” I had had the same conversation with both Sophie and Lucy Dickens separately. Neither of the sisters had been that up for the idea of making the photoshoot all about their great-great-grandfather. However, if we had fun with that idea then why the hell not. So it was a few days later I found myself in Angels costume store, surrounded by Victorian era outfits with two giggling sisters flashing their ankles at me from underneath petticoats and sticking fake moustaches onto each other. Exactly the kind of shoot I love. Lucy and Sophie are impressive artists. Do check out their work on their websites:...
Good things comes to those who wait – will.i.am and Carl for The Sunday Times Magazine
It was four days before Christmas, midday and I had just finished my last shoot of the year. Time to go to Devon to see my family for a well earned break. My phone rings. “Charlie, are you still in London?” “Yes” “Can you photograph will.i.am this evening with his brother Carl?” And so it was, no going to Devon for me on that day. And the waiting began. You see we didn’t know anything more at this point. Where would we be photographing them, when would we be meeting them or even if it was going to happen or not. We knew nothing really, but we had hope. So I prepared for the shoot, got my gear together and positioned myself and my assistant in a cafe in central London. We waited hard by drinking coffee and talking about photography. Finally we got some information: we would be photographing...
Raymond Tooth for The Sunday Times Magazine
If you don’t try it won’t happen. I remind myself of that frequently but never was it so true as when I photographed Raymond Tooth for The Sunday Times Magazine (the issue is out today – do check it out). “Go photograph a top divorce lawyer in London” was my brief. I don’t know that many lawyers, but get the impression they are a completely different breed to photographers. I could only imagine how different a celebrity divorce lawyer would be to me. A little bit of research only increased the doubts – Raymond Tooth is known as “Jaws” in the legal circles and wins case, after case, after case. Daunting? Just a little. In my head I had the grey suits and the polished wood interiors of his office and was wondering how far will I be able to push it with this man. Possibly not too far, but...
John Hamilton – Independent Saturday Magazine
How many cookbooks have you got? I’ve always thought the collection adorning the shelves in my flat is a pretty good one. Always – that is until I met John Hamilton, the Art Director for Penguin Books. I was asked by The Independent’s Saturday Magazine to photograph John for an article about Penguin’s new publication – 100 Cookbook Covers in One Box. John has been collecting cookbooks ever since he was in charge of designing Jamie Oliver’s first Naked Chef book. Fast forward fifteen years and John now has over a thousand cookbooks at home. No surprise then that I was rather excited to see his amalgamation of cookery design from across the world. John welcomed me in his home in Lewes and soon we were deep in cookbook design conversation. My portrait idea was to make the most of the sheer quantity of the books and surround John with...
Sugru on the Ceiling
Some ideas shout to me as a photographer, and when I was asked to photograph Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh the idea that shouted loudest was to stick her to the ceiling. Jane is the founder of Sugru, a company who make a soft rubber substance that sticks to anything. It is good in the heat and fine in the freezer, and is designed to help you repair, customise and make better the things around you. Unfortunately it isn’t quite strong enough to actually hold someone on the ceiling, and more to the point the paint that it would be stuck to certainly wouldn’t be. However, it probably isn’t far off being strong enough but I did not want to risk it. Here is a behind the scenes video from the day and a few more images from the shoot… A massive thanks to all at the British Airways magazine Business Life for commissioning...