As well as commissioned photography I also sell limited edition prints. I’ve attended various art fairs over the years with mixed success, but the Internet has proved extremely useful for making sales without having to shell out for an expensive stand, pack everything up, hire a van, drive to the fair, unpack everything, hang it up, spend a number of days trying to hawk my wares, and at the end reversing the whole procedure!
How did you spend the Lockdown? I spent it looking up – not in a life affirming, positive way, but quite literally looking up – at the skies above me. Living under the Heathrow flightpath this would normally result in seeing loads of planes, but with air travel severely curtailed there was so much more to see; birds, clouds, helicopters, moons, super moons, and more clouds.
I am very excited to announce that not one but two of my photos have been chosen as Winners in this years Portrait Of Britain competition. The Portrait Of Britain is a photography exhibition run by the British Journal Of Photography which, in their own words, celebrates the rich tapestry of people that make up Great Britain.
With the easing of the lockdown and the government advice to return to work but “Stay Alert”, the Association Of Photographers (AOP) have published some best practice guidelines for running a photoshoot with the health and safety of all involved as the main priority. As an accredited member of the AOP I am bound to adhere to the principles of the AOP and to follow their guidance, which will reassure my clients that all my jobs will be undertaken with everything being done to follow the government advice and keep everyone on set safe.
What does a location photographer do during a major pandemic lockdown? Shifts some furniture and sets up a studio in the living room, that’s what. I even managed to convince Mrs Doug to be my “willing” assistant and help me move the furniture. “Don’t worry darling, the sun’s shining so we can live in the garden most of the time…” I opined, taking my life in my hands.
To start the decade that will henceforth be known as the “Double Twenties” (or Tweenies as the spell checker tried to enforce on me) I’ve… Read More »Printagram 3
They say never work with children or animals. but when one of my healthcare clients asked me if I was interested in shooting a Pets As Therapy calendar featuring the pets, I thought why not, after all what do “they” know; it’s either going to be fun or utter chaos! The parting shot from the brief being “if you can get them doing any tricks that would be brilliant – but we don’t expect it!”.
Imagine being born in 1918, shot in the stomach during WWII, held as a Prisoner Of War, accused of being a spy, suffering malnutrition and nearly losing the use of your legs, being in Dresden when the Allies bombed it, escaping across the border, returning to the town you’ve lived your whole life, ringing church bells since you were 11 years old, receiving the Order Of St Mellitus from the Bishop Of London, receiving the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, being mentioned in the House Of Commons by the Prime Minister, and finally packing up driving…at the age of 100!
Meet Dennis…
I sometimes question myself and my reasoning when I am out and about shooting personal work (that’s work I shoot just for myself with no third party brief and, no pay). It usually involves people I’ve met or approached who I think would make for an interesting portrait. My self doubt arises, usually when it’s cold, dark, wet and miserable and I’m lugging my gear around on my own (which I do for most of my personal work – it keeps me grounded by reminding me what it’s like to be an assistant again). It’s often further exacerbated when my subject asks me why I want to take their photo and what am I going to do with it? The very lovely Mrs Griffiths even went as far as to say that I couldn’t be a very busy photographer as nobody would want to buy her picture!
Now I’m used to photographing in very small places, as my project on bellringers will attest, but when I agreed to photograph artist Mr Mr Pearce in his studio on Johnson’s Island, I didn’t realise that it wasn’t much bigger than a desk, and had all the usual artist paraphernalia inside including a lot of his artworks (obviously).
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