J & A Beare are an internationally-renowned musical instrument dealer based in London and Germany. Their reputation has been built over 125 years of authenticating, valuing, making, restoring and selling musical instruments and bows.
They recently asked me to provide them with portrait photography of their members of staff as well as interior photographs of their premises on Queen Anne Street in London. I first took photographs of J & A Beare in 2015 for Rolls Royce Magazine, and it was wonderful to be back in the calm, quiet spaces of their premises. It’s an amazing experience to look inside the workshops where the beautiful instruments are lovingly restored by their expert craftsmen. As well as the portraits and interiors, the commissioned photography also included still life images of the instruments and bows that are being repaired and that are for sale.
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I had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with the production agency xpogr in Dubai to provide photography for a new campaign for Emirates Airlines.
It was a five-day project, with one day for location scouting with the art director and producer, one day for a pre-production meeting to discuss and finalise all aspects of the lifestyle photography, followed by three days of photography in various locations around Dubai airport.
I flew from London to Dubai with Emirates who kindly provided me with a seat in business class. This was extremely comfortable, and the high level of service was exceptional!
The photographs for the advertising lifestyle campaign were taken in Emirate’s lounges throughout the airport, including the first-class lounge, the Cigar lounge, and various family-dedicated lounges, as well as their dedicated check-in desks, the Spa and the various Emirates dining areas. The campaign was hugely enjoyable and was deemed a great success. I very much look forward to working with xpogr again soon.
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Richard Boll Photography was recently commissioned to photograph the work of furniture designer Mark Gabbertas. The brief was to produce a range of imagery that creatively expressed the qualities of the designs.
The new website for Gabbertas Studio went live in April of 2019 and features many images taken for the designer by Richard Boll Photography.
Mark Gabbetas became a furniture designer after having initially worked in advertising as well as having been trained as a cabinet maker. He served an apprenticeship in Codrington Furniture and also Stemmer & Sharp in London. Having opened the Gabbertas Studio in London in 2001, he later moved the business to the Oxfordshire countryside in 2016.
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The company Wheely has launched a luxury ride-hailing app, offering a chauffeur service in London. It is an online service for ordering luxury and executive rides, from licensed and carefully selected drivers. The Wheely chauffeurs all have tested knowledge of London geography and have several years of executive driving experience. The rides are paid for with a credit or debit card linked to a user’s account. The license has been approved in London until 2023.
I was commissioned by Wheely as a product and lifestyle photographer to produce images for marketing, editorial use and social media. The commission involved a detailed recce of various locations in London prior to the shoot, and liaising with producers, stylists and models regarding the logistics and timings of the shoot.
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The AXYL collection is a collaboration between Layer Design and the British furniture brand Allermuir. The range comprises of furniture pieces each fully made from reclaimed materials.
It is the first time the London-based designer has collaborated with Allermuir.
I was commissioned to produce a range of imagery by both Layer and Allermuir, including studio product photography and location lifestyle photography in London. Produced with editorial and advertising potential, the images have been published across various design industry platforms including Dezeen, Domus, Urdesign and Designboom.
The studio product photography for Layer was carried out at Holborn Studios in London.
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I’m thrilled to have received an honourable mention in the 2018 International Photography Awards, for the project Form and Void II.
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These images were produced in Iceland and seek to examine the interconnectedness of the forms and voids that exist within the landscape, and how these elements translate to the pictorial (specifically photographic) space.
Parallel to this is a consideration of aspects of cultural geography; humankind’s place within this landscape and its relationship to it.
The Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou (born 370 BC), often known as Zhuangzi, proposed the notion that all things and events in the phenomenal world are dependent on one another, summarising existence as,
“This comes from that, and that is caused by this”.
In the same way that certain aspects of eastern philosophy sees the form and the void as one and the same, East Asian depictions of landscape generally intend to show that humankind is an inherent part of the landscape, and of nature, rather than ruling over it. This view is distinct from the more Western attitude of human society being a separate (and typically conflicting) entity in relation to nature.
A significant part of the project was a personal photographic “grounding”. The specific use of relatively traditional photographic equipment and techniques, including the use of a large format camera and black and white film, provides a clearer, more refined photographic language that is better suited to my intentions towards more considered and meditative compositions. The cumbersome nature of the camera is paradoxically beneficial for the production of stronger images. Slowing the process down and taking up to an hour to take an exposure is beneficial for encouraging a more analytical mode of seeing.
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