Journal | Richard Boll Photography

Corporate Photography for Octopus Energy in London, Warwickshire and Brighton

18th November 2020

Category 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

2nd November 2020

Category 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.

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Portrait and Product Photographer for Burgundy Producer Olivier Bernstein

14th July 2020

Category 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 website and editorial use, and included mostly product photography and some portrait photography.

Though it was a quick visit to Beaune, less than 24 hours, 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.

Global Advertising Photography for Zeiss

26th June 2020

Category Advertising, Environmental Portrait, Global Advertising, Lifestyle, Location, Product Photography

The company Zeiss began in 1846 when the scientific instrument maker and optician Carl Zeiss founded a workshop in Jena, Germany. Since then it has transformed into a world-renowned research-orientated enterprise that produces a significant range of optical products including eyewear, lenses for film and photography, and highly specialised products for metrology and medical use.
I was commissioned to provide the advertising photography for a global campaign for Zeiss by the London-based creative agency Collider. The campaign was for the innovative new range of Zeiss Smartlife lenses. It was an extremely well organised and productive shoot, carried out in various locations in and around London with a considerable team shooting both still and moving image. It’s been great to see the images being used so extensively for such a successful advertising campaign.

More of my lifestyle photography can be seen here and more of my portrait photography can be seen here.

Commissioned Still Life and Portrait Photography for J & A Beare, London

14th April 2020

Category Corporate Photography, Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Environmental Portrait, London, Product Photography

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.

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

Global Lifestyle Advertising Photographer for Campaign for Emirates Airline in Dubai

4th November 2019

Category Advertising, Advertising Photography, Airlines, Commercial Photography, Editorial Photography, Global Advertising, Lifestyle, lifestyle Photography, Location, Location Photography

I had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with the production agency xpogr in Dubai as a lifestyle advertising photographer 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 as a lifestyle advertising photographer again soon.

More of my lifestyle photography can be seen here.

Studio Furniture Photographer for Gabbertas Studio

5th April 2019

Category Advertising, Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Furniture Photography, Product Photography, Studio Furniture Photography, Studio Photography

Richard Boll Photography was recently commissioned as a studio furniture photographer for the 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.

More of my studio furniture photography can be found here.

London Chauffeur Service commissions Richard Boll as a Product and Lifestyle Photographer

31st January 2019

Category Advertising, Advertising Photography, Commercial Photography, Corporate Photography, Editorial Photography, Environmental Portrait, lifestyle Photography, Location, Location Photography, London

I was recently 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.

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.

More of my lifestyle photography can be seen here.

Location Lifestyle and Furniture Photographer for AXYL Range of Furniture in London

22nd January 2019

Category Advertising, Commercial Photography, Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Furniture Photography, Lifestyle, lifestyle Photography, Location, Location Photography, London, Product Photography, Publications, Studio Photography

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 as a studio furniture photographer and location lifestyle photographer in London in a joint commission from both Layer and Allermuir. 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.

To see more of my furniture photography click here.

Form & Void II in International Photography Awards

5th December 2018

Category Fine Art Photography, Photography Award

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.

The whole of this project can be viewed here and fine art limited edition prints from the project can be purchased here.

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Richard Boll

Richard Boll

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