Category Archives: Environmental Portrait

UK Visual Artist Photographic Portraits 4 of 4: Gordon Cheung – contemporary multi-media artist who blurs the line between the virtual and reality

Posted by Richard Boll on 30th May 2023 – 5:21 pm

UK Visual Artist Portrait Series

When I first developed an interest in photography and started learning about well-known artists and photographers, I appreciated seeing portraits of them taken by other photographers. A portrait can be an effective introduction into the life of an artist and can tell a visual story and open a window into that person’s world. I found it really intriguing and was curious about why that person had been photographed in a particular way. I’ve decided to continue this rich photography tradition, by shooting a photographic series of well-known visual artists currently working in the UK.

Gordon Cheung

The artist Gordon Cheung wearing a mask ready to spray paint a new picture. Portrait photo by Richard Boll of London.

The fourth set of images in this series features Gordon Cheung, a London-born contemporary, multi-media visual artist from Chinese parents. Cheung has developed an innovative approach to creating art, blurring virtual and actual reality and raising questions about what it means to be human in a capitalist society. Working with a variety of media including stock page listings, spray paint, acrylic, inkjet, and woodblock printing, he blends his art into dreamlike spaces of urban surreal worlds, using the topics of culture, mythology, religion, and politics.

The London-based artist Gordon Cheung facing toward a picture that he's about to start painting.

His work centers around financial market crashes, incorporating elements of the Financial Times into his art to make 3D sculptural pieces. Tulips crop up in most of his work as a symbol because ‘Tulip mania’ was reputed to be the first ever market crash in February 1637. Tulip mania was a period during the Dutch Golden Age when contract prices for some new and fashionable bulbs reached ridiculously high levels – a handful of tulips would have cost the same as a house nowadays.
Gordon has pioneered a now iconic digital glitch technique, involving taking an image, whether it’s a painting or a portrait, and altering the structure of the digital file, getting into the programming behind it. This process produces a really interesting aesthetic, dragging the lines down and blurring the virtual with reality.

The photographic concept

The original photographic concept for this series was to shoot four different elements of the visual artist: behind-the-scenes studio shots, finer details referencing their work, the artist working, and photographic portraits. As part of this project, I also wanted to introduce a collaboration and crossover element between the visual artist and myself and I asked Gordon if he would be prepared to digitally glitch a portrait that I’d taken of him. I’m keeping that particular portrait under wraps for now to reveal at a future exhibition of the visual artist series. I chose Cheung for this series as I find his work fascinating and unique, in particular how he incorporates financial elements and assesses financial institutions. I regularly shoot corporate portraiture for an investment bank and I’ve even noticed his work hanging on the walls of their offices.

A close-up detail photograph of an art work by the London artist Gordon Cheung.

It was great collaborating with Cheung on this project and it’s encouraging to see my imagery being extensively used on Gordon’s own website and in a newsletter produced by the Cristea Roberts Gallery, the worldwide representative for Cheung’s original prints.
Watch this space for the next visual artist in this series – Yarli Allison. Visual artists previously featured in this portrait series were Gavin Turk, Adam Chodzko and Jake Wood-Evans.

Discover more about Gordon Cheung and his work by visiting his website.

UK Visual Artist Photographic Portraits 3 of 4: Jake Wood-Evans, contemporary painter and interpreter of past masters

Posted by Richard Boll on 5th April 2023 – 4:18 pm

Filed under Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Environmental Portrait, Fine Art Photography, Portrait Photography

UK Visual Artist Portrait Series

When I first began my education as a photographer and started learning about well-known artists and photographers, I appreciated seeing effective portraits of them taken by other photographers. It was a great introduction to the work of the artists and interesting portrait photography can tell a visual story that opens a window into that person’s world. I found these portraits intriguing and was curious about why each person had been photographed in a particular way. I decided to continue this rich photographic tradition by shooting a photographic series of visual artists currently working in the UK.

Jake Wood-Evans

The fourth set of images in this first series features Jake Wood-Evans, who works from a large studio based near Lewes, East Sussex. Inspired and influenced by artists such as Turner and Francis Bacon, his signature approach is to consider Old Master paintings and reinterpret and modernise them in his own way. He partially abstracts the original image and incorporates his own messages and ideas within his painting. There’s a language that exists between the original and his work. He produces very beautiful pictures that are visually exciting and very original in their approach. I find that his work has an effect of re-energising the original paintings.

Large Format Camera

Portrait photography by Richard Boll, London. Large format black-and-white portrait of the artist Jake Wood-Evans.

This black and white portrait of Wood-Evans was taken with a 5 x 4 inch large format film camera. I wanted to use a more traditional photographic approach, as this links in some way to his work as well as looking back to the history of photography. It was also a very enjoyable part of the process as I haven’t used a large format camera for 5 or 6 years, or produced a traditional darkroom print for over 20 years. Using a large format camera requires a very considered technical approach to the photographic process and I enjoy the extra time that these technicalities require. It’s not possible to look through the camera during the exposure, which for portraiture relies on the subject remaining very still whilst a dark slide is loaded. This contains the unexposed negative.

In the printing process, I used fiber-based paper which is a relatively involved way to produce a print. It needs careful handling, longer developing, fixing and washing times, as well as flattening after drying. The advantages of the paper is that a richer print can be produced and it’s more archivally durable than resin-coated paper.

Inadvertent mark-making

When I look at Wood-Evans’ paintings, I’m very aware of the layers of history and time within them and am conscious of the mark-making that creates them. Before I met Jake Wood-Evans I had the idea of giving him photographic prints to leave around in his studio: perhaps on the floor, where he keeps his paints, or underneath a painting that is being worked on; be it hanging on the wall or on an easel. The portraits could be left there for weeks or months and over time, they would inadvertently pick up marks and develop a history and life of their own in the studio space. It was a coincidence that Wood-Evans has previously carried out this practise by leaving photocopies of paintings around in his studio to develop interesting marks.

A photocopy of an old master painting left on the floor of a studio by the painter Jake Wood-Evans.

I like the element of chance in this practise and not being too precious about the prints or the process. I’m keen to allow mistakes to creep into the project. For example, one of the dark slides that held the negatives had slight cracks which created light leaks, leading to white lines being visible on the final prints. I appreciate that some photographers might find this frustrating and discard the negative due to what is technically a mistake. Instead, I’m taking hold of these elements, appreciating them, and pushing them forward. Jake very much agreed that these elements should be celebrated and not discarded.

Wood-Evans at work

Multiple blurred exposure of the painter Jake Wood-Evans working on a large canvas. Photo by Richard Boll, London.

For this image of Jake at work, I set the camera up on a tripod in front of one of the large paintings that he was working on. I took multiple exposures of him working over the course of 10-15 minutes experimenting with varying shutter speeds.
The exposures incorporated into this image were quite slow, around an eighth of a second which rendered Jake’s movements as blurs. Jake is a very dynamic, energetic painter and he moves around a lot when he’s working. This image captures his energy and that of his paintings. The slow shutter speed adds an element of partial abstraction. On showing the image to some people they didn’t initially see him in the painting at all. I like this element of abstraction that correlates with Wood-Evan’s style of painting. This image made an effective sketch but I’m looking forward to re-shooting another version of this image with a greater level of refinement.

Jake’s studio

An interior photograph by Richard Boll of the studio of the painter Jake Wood-Evans.

An interior shot of Jake’s large studio space near Lewes.

Visual artists previously featured in this portrait series are Gavin Turk, Adam Chodzko and Gordon Cheung.

Discover more about Jake Wood-Evans and where his work has been exhibited by visiting his website.

The portrait photographer Richard Avedon

Posted by Richard Boll on 6th February 2023 – 5:15 pm

Filed under Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Environmental Portrait, Fine Art Photography, National Portrait Gallery, Portrait Photography, Vogue

Photography Inspiration and Influence

When I first started my photography degree in 1996 and began to research well-known portrait photographers, I was struck by the strength of Richard Avedon’s powerful imagery, and in particular, his black and white portraits.

He was both a fashion and portrait photographer and pioneered his own signature style of black-and-white portrait photography. One project of his called ‘In the American West’ (1985) had a lasting impression on me, in that every portrait in the project was a powerful image taken of a visually interesting character.

Avedon was an extremely hardworking, prolific photographer. In his lifetime, he produced an impressive quantity of high-quality work, photographing a very wide range of interesting people including celebrities, politicians, artists, poets, and writers. His work was an incredible commentary and document of the time. It always impressed me how he managed to combine his own artistic personal projects with editorial, magazine, and commercial work. The structure of his working life was a huge inspiration for my own photography career and I attempt to follow his blueprint in my own work.

Photography was very much a part of his personal life too. He consistently took pictures of his family, and whilst traveling. These images were taken purely for pleasure and not as a commercial project. This aspect of his photography also inspired me and forms the basis for my own personal projects, such as the UK visual artist portraits that I’m currently working on.

Who was Richard Avedon?

Avedon was born on May 15, 1923, in New York City and was best known for his work in the fashion world and minimalist portraits. Starting out as a photographer for the US Merchant Marines during World War II, he took ID portraits of sailors. He then moved on to fashion, shooting for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. His insistence on models conveying emotion and movement was a welcome departure from the norm of relatively motionless fashion photography.

Beginning of Photography Career

Avedon attended the New School for Social Research in New York to study photography under Alexey Brodovitch, the acclaimed art director of Harper’s Bazaar. Within a year, Avedon was hired as a staff photographer for the magazine. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, he created elegant black-and-white photographs showcasing the latest fashions in real-life settings such as Paris’s cafes, cabarets, and streetcars.

Portraits and Later Career

Richard served as a staff photographer for Harper’s Bazaar for 20 years, from 1945 to 1965. As well as his fashion photography, he was well known for his black-and-white portraiture. He managed to capture the essential humanity and vulnerability of larger-than-life political figures and celebrities, such as President Eisenhower, Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles.
From 1966 to 1990, Avedon worked as a photographer for Vogue, continuing to push the boundaries of fashion photography with surreal, provocative, and often controversial images in which nudity, violence, and death often featured prominently.
Avedon always believed that the story of his life was best told through his photographs, saying: “Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is… the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own.”
As one of the first self-consciously artistic commercial photographers, Avedon played a leading role in defining the artistic purpose and possibilities of the genre.

Discover more about Richard Avedon and his iconic work by visiting The Richard Avedon Foundation.

[Article Source: https://www.biography.com/artist/richard-avedon#citation]

UK Visual Artist Portraits 2 of 4: Adam Chodzko – Conceptual media artist, YBA and Saatchi 2007 ‘Sensation’ Exhibitor

Posted by Richard Boll on 6th December 2022 – 1:42 pm

Filed under Artists, Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Environmental Portrait, Fine Art Photography, Location Photography, Photography Award, Portrait Photography

UK Visual Artist Portrait Series

When I first became interested in photography and started learning about well-known artists and photographers I appreciated seeing portraits of them taken by other photographers. Initially, I might not have known who these people were, but an interesting portrait can tell a visual story and open a window into that person’s world. I found it really intriguing and was curious about why that person had been photographed in a particular way. I decided to continue this rich photographic tradition, by taking a series of photographs of well-known visual artists, currently working in the UK.

Adam Chodzko

The second set of images in this series features Adam Chodzko, a Kent-based, highly acclaimed conceptual artist working across a wide range of media, including video, installation, photography, and performance, and considered to be one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). The YBAs are a group of visual artists who are noted for shock tactics, the use of throwaway materials, and wild living. They attracted considerable media coverage and dominated British art during the ‘Cool Britannia’ scene of the 90s. Chodzko’s art relies on the viewer’s imagination and personal experience to create the meaning behind his work. Using elements of science fiction, he explores the space between documentary and fantasy, conceptualism, and surrealism. His art explores the interactions and possibilities of human behaviour by investigating the space of consciousness between how we are and what we might be.

Spotted by the art collector Charles Saatchi, he was invited to take part in ‘Sensation’, the highly controversial, contemporary art exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (London) in 1997. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, this significant exhibition drew a lot of media attention at the time and showcased work by 42 different artists, including Gavin Turk, Damien Hirst, and Tracey Emin.

The photographic concept

This time, the approach was slightly different from the previous Gavin Turk shoot, in that Adam doesn’t work out of a traditional studio. I couldn’t take shots of him working in a studio, so we focused purely on portraits. Chodzko was really good at engaging with my ideas and very clear about what would suit him. I really enjoyed the collaborative elements of this project, born from a combination of both our ideas and an open, creative discussion, that generated the final images.

1. Collaboration, crossover, and a portrait prize

The idea I had for this portrait was Chodzko being in the countryside and somehow connected with water. He then took my idea and suggested wading around in a pond holding recording equipment, because that’s the sort of thing he might do for his work. An extra element of this shot was the sound clip of the space that was produced during the shoot. You not only hear countryside sounds like birds and mosquitoes, but as we were close to a road, you also hear cars, a car stereo and a dog barking. There’s an interesting crossover between the urban and rural spaces. I requested this sound clip from the artist as it might be suitable for an exhibition of these portraits in the future. I’m pleased to report that this image went on to win third prize in the Kuala Lumpur Portrait Awards and was exhibited in Malaysia and Japan. It was great to get this extra element of exposure for this portrait.

a photographic portrait of the conceptual artist adam chodzko in a pond copyright richard boll

2. Wasteland in the future?

This portrait was inspired by ‘A Hunting Scene’ (1992) by Canadian photographer Jeff Wall. Wall’s photo is of two men walking into a wasteland from a road and they’re both carrying guns. It’s an image that has always stuck in my mind and Adam said that it was a photograph that he’d always liked. Chodzko suggested we put an alternative spin on it. Instead of carrying guns or an axe, he tied white bedsheets together and dragged them around in this waste ground off a main road between a car park and scrubland. There’s a feeling of an in-between, non-space and I hope that it’s intriguing for the viewer in that what has happened in the image is ambiguous and is left up to the viewers’ imagination.

the artist adam chodzko dragging a white sheet in whitstable kent copyright richard boll

3. Whitstable in a (Wet)Suit

Another water-themed portrait was shot in the sea off the beach at Whitstable, where Chodzko lives and works. The idea surrounding this image was that the viewer can imagine that he’s just arrived on the beach and traveled from somewhere else, perhaps the strip of land that can be seen behind him across the water. Again, it’s left up to the viewer to imagine what the back story of this image might be.

a portrait of the artist adam chodzko in the sea in whitstable kent copyright richard boll

Watch this space for features on 2 more visual artists, currently working in the UK that I’ve also photographed, Gordon Cheung and Jake Wood-Evans. Future plans include an extensive exhibition of the complete UK Visual Artist Portrait Photography Series.

Discover more about Adam Chodzko and his work by visiting his website and reading about the controversial 1997 ‘Sensation’ exhibition.

UK Visual Artist Photographic Portraits 1 of 4: Gavin Turk – artist and sculptor, YBA and Saatchi ‘Sensation’ Exhibitor

Posted by Richard Boll on 4th October 2022 – 3:31 pm

Filed under Artists, Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Environmental Portrait, Fine Art Photography, Gavin Turk, London, Portrait Photography

UK Visual Artist Portrait Series

When I initially developed an interest in photography and started learning about well-known artists and photographers, I appreciated seeing photographic portraits of them in my research. Even though I didn’t know who these people were at the time, an interesting portrait can tell a visual story and open a window into that person’s world. I found it very intriguing and was curious about why that person had been photographed in a particular way. I recently decided that I’d like to continue this rich photographic tradition by taking a series of photographs of well-known visual artists currently working in the UK.

Gavin Turk

The first set of images in this series features Gavin Turk, a British-born, world-renowned international artist, and one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). The YBAs were a group of visual artists who were noted for shock tactics, use of throwaway materials, and often controversial works of art. They attracted considerable media coverage and dominated British art during the ‘Cool Britannia’ scene of the 90s.

Turk’s work deals with issues of authorship, authenticity, and identity. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture now taken for granted, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon, and the use of rubbish in art. Spotted by the art collector Charles Saatchi, he was invited to take part in ‘Sensation’, the highly controversial contemporary art exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (London) in 1997. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, this significant exhibition drew a lot of media attention at the time and showcased work by 42 different artists, including Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst.

On the day of the shoot, I spent around three hours at Gavin’s studio in East London. The original concept that I had for this visual artist series was to take a range of photographs with four distinct elements depicting images of the artist and their work: behind-the-scenes studio shots, details referencing their work and processes, the artist at work (where possible) and more formal photographic portraits.

A photographic portrait of the british artist gavin turk with his signature written in the air

This image is a reference to Turk’s work on identity and the frequent use of signatures in his work and also mimics a project carried out by the photographer Gjon Mili, who photographed Picasso drawing in the air with a torch. The effect of this portrait was created by taking a long exposure of Gavin writing his name in the air with a torch and then firing a flash to expose the room in which the photograph was taken.

A double black and white photographic portrait of the artist gavin turk

This double portrait combines two photographic portraits taken in quick succession and references Turk’s artwork: ‘Portrait of something that I’ll never really see’ (1997), a self-portrait of the artist from the neck up with his eyes closed against a blank background.

An interior photograph of the studio of british artist gavin turk

A photograph of collected items on the shelves in the studio of gavin turk

These photographs of the interior of Turk’s studio provide an insight into the artist’s work and his influences. I’d like to thank Gavin for being so open to my ideas and generous with his time on the day of the shoot. It was a particular pleasure for me both to meet him and to take portraits of him. It’s also been great to see some of the images I’ve taken being shared on the artists’ website and social media platforms.

Watch this space for features on 3 more visual artists, currently working in the UK that I’ve also photographed, namely Adam Chodzko, Gordon Cheung, and Jake Wood-Evans. Future plans include an exhibition of the complete series of portraits of visual artists working in the UK today.

Discover more about Gavin Turk and his work by visiting his website and read about the controversial 1997 ‘Sensation’ exhibition here. More of my photographic portraiture can be seen here.

Corporate portrait photography in London for Numis Investment Bank and The Brunswick Group

Posted by Richard Boll on 21st January 2022 – 12:42 pm

Filed under Corporate Photography, Corporate Portraiture, Environmental Portrait, headshots, Location, London

In September of 2021, I was commissioned by the creative agency The Brunswick Group to take corporate portrait photography of key members of staff at the investment bank Numis. The images were produced over a two-day shoot in various locations at their London offices. Each portrait required the location to be scouted and compositions discussed in advance with an art director from The Brunswick Group.

Numis is an innovative and dynamic investment bank with offices in New York and London. They’re proud to have the largest client base by number of corporates in the United Kingdom, and through combining their leading component services such as equity sales, M&A solutions, and trading and debt advisory, they operate at the forefront of the industry.

More of my corporate portrait photography can be seen here.

Lifestyle Photography for Wizzard Advertising Agency in London

Posted by Richard Boll on 4th February 2021 – 4:35 pm

Filed under Advertising, Advertising Photography, Commercial Photography, Environmental Portrait, Lifestyle, lifestyle Photography, Location, Location Photography, London

I was recently commissioned as a lifestyle photographer by the London advertising agency Wizzard. The taxi company has taken the risks posed by Covid-19 very seriously and is taking significant measures to protect their customers in London. I was asked by Wizzard to source models for the lifestyle photography and suggest suitable locations in London. The models were then selected and the shoot was carried out in a relatively quiet square in Pimlico in London. Due to the prevalent risks posed by Covid-19 everyone on the shoot was observing social distancing and wearing PPE. More of my lifestyle photography can be seen here.

Corporate Photography for Octopus Energy in London, Warwickshire and Brighton

Posted by Richard Boll on 18th November 2020 – 12:50 pm

Filed under Corporate Photography, Corporate Portraiture, Environmental Portrait, Location, London

I was recently commissioned by Octopus Energy, a UK-based electricity and gas supplier specialising in sustainable energy. They were established in 2015 and have rapidly developed a reputation for excellent customer service and value for money. I was asked to photograph their staff members in London, Warwickshire and Brighton. The commission involved taking informal corporate photography of their team at work as well as posed corporate portraits. It was a great commission and I’m a big fan of Octopus Energy and their fantastic team.

More of my corporate photography can be found here.

Corporate Portrait Photography for Derwent Annual Report Commissioned by Merchant Cantos

Posted by Richard Boll on 2nd November 2020 – 3:41 pm

Filed under Corporate Photography, Corporate Portraiture, Environmental Portrait, Location, Location Photography, London

I’ve been providing corporate portrait photography to the global communications agency Merchant Cantos since 2017 and it was a great pleasure to be selected for a commission to take portraits for the Derwent London 2019 Annual Report. Derwent London is a property investment and development business with its headquarters in London. It was a significant project carried out over several days, producing group and single portraits of key members of staff. The group portraits were taken in a variety of different locations across London. Each portrait required the location to be scouted and compositions discussed in advance with art directors from Merchant Cantos. The project included group portraits taken in interiors of key Derwent London buildings, as well as exterior locations including building sites and rooftop spaces.

The portraits were deemed a great success and discussions have begun for commissioned imagery for the next Derwent London annual report.

More of my corporate portraits can be seen here.

Corporate portrait for Derwent annual report by London photographer Richard Boll

Group portrait for Derwent annual report by London photographer Richard Boll

Portrait and Product Photographer for Burgundy Producer Olivier Bernstein

Posted by Richard Boll on 14th July 2020 – 12:55 pm

Filed under Advertising, Editorial Photography, Environmental Portrait, Location, Publications, wine photography

As someone who loves a good glass of Burgundy, it was a pleasure to be commissioned as a product photographer to carry out a shoot for a wine producer in Beaune in the Burgundy region of France.

The photography was commissioned by the creative agency Anew and it was to produce images for the great wine producer Olivier Bernstein. The images were for the website and editorial use, and included mostly product photography and some portrait photography.

Though it was a quick visit to the Olivier Bernstein premises in Beaune, less than 24 hours in fact, it was a productive shoot and the client was delighted with the results.

More of my still life product photography can be found here and more of my portrait photography can be found here.