In August I was contacted by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, the South East region of Wales’ NHS service, and commissioned to shoot portraits of the Value-Based Health Care team as part of an awards submission for recognised great service. The team support and rehabilitate patients who suffer with serious, often life-threatening heart conditions and nurse them back to health with the use of data visualisations to track progress.
After the COVID-19 pandemic and the monumental effort nationwide from the NHS, I jumped at the chance to shine a bit of a spotlight (quite literally) on some of the staff who all play an unsung part in helping people. Everyone was fun and bubbly, and very accomodating and I was grateful to have the chance to work with some lovely ladies who heroically put up with my dry humour and naff jokes. Job done!
EDIT: ** I’ve since learned that the team have now been shortlisted into the final for the awards and will attend a ceremony in Cardiff next month to find out whether they’ve won. Sending luck and best wishes to everyone!
I was recently commissioned to capture portraits for Monmouthshire County Council’s newly elected Cabinet after a change of administration following the local elections back in May. It sees the Council change from a Conservative Cabinet to a Labour Cabinet, led by Monmouthshire’s first female Leader Mary Ann Brocklesby.
The brief required me to capture the new Caninet members in the wards for which they were elected and the shots needed to be relaxed and welcoming – nothing too formal. Natural lighting and simple was the name of the game
Everyone was extremely accomodating on the day of their shoot and I was able to quickly grab the shots with ease. Thank you to each of them for puttin gup with my rubbish jokes!
In July I was recruited by local folkrock band Rusty Shackle to film their new music video for upcoming single release ‘The Devil’s Pulpit’ as part of a promotion cycle for their latest album Under a Bloodshot Moon. The demand for my film abilities seems to be increasing, and I was eager to jump at the opportunity to work with such a talented band.
Filmed around various locations around Tintern, the Wye Valley and other rural areas around Monmouthshire; the song refers to the temptations offered by the Devil and the band were keen to visiually reflect the legend of The Devil’s Pulpit, a ‘sacred’ spot up in the cliffs above Tintern Abbey.
The video was co-directed between Scott Mackeon and myself and filmed over three different days in order to capture various narrative strands within the plot. As collborative efforts go, this was up there with one of the most creative and enthusiastic that I’ve had the pleasure of working on. Watching the boys rehearse the dance routine has to be one of the most entertaing things I’ve seen in a while!
Thanks to the guys for putting their faith in me.
Some of my favourite shots, behind the scenes candid snaps and final cut below:
Check out Under a Bloodshot Moon on streaming services or order from the band’s website. You won’t be disappointed.
What a crazy one this was! In June 2022 I entered a competition to win a commission shooting a marketing project for FOR Cardiff to promote all of the shopping arcades around Cardiff city centre. All that was required was to take an abstract photograph that captured the energy and vibrancy of Cardiff. The competition was open to anyone of any ability, and could simply be taken on a phone. Not expecting to win, I entered with the intention of a free bit of publicity and marketing exposure to a broader audience.
Three weeks later and before I knew it, my phone started going bananas with alerts and messages notifying me that I’d been shortlisted into the top five after 600+ submissions. I was contacted by the organisers and asked to write a short piece about the image (which was actually taken 3 years previously – see below!).
After a lot of love and support, my image was eventually voted the favourite and I won the commission. Two weeks later and I’d received the project brief and the final images were delivered shortly after, much to the satisfaction of FOR Cardiff. Below is a small selection of snaps that were captured during the shoot. Thank you to Emma and the team for the brief and for having me a long for the ride!
You’ve got to be in it to win it!
Some of the final images delivered for the commission:
This shoot was almost a year in the making! Meg, the singer and band leader from the recently branded Idle Minds (formally known as SouthBound), emailed me over a year ago after the original COVID-19 lockdown to try and organise a shoot. They’d recently had a member leave the fold and wanted a fresh batch of promos to portray the bands’ image going forward. Meg is a photographer herself (shout-out!) and had a clear idea of what she wanted which included the band smartly dressed juxtaposed with a rough, overgrown backdrop. We’d been in conversation for some time but due to the global-event-that-shall-not-be-named and people’s availability, it took a long time to put plans into action.
We’d toyed about with a few ideas but eventually settled on utilising the industrial vibe of Newbridge and its surrounding areas as a location and as luck would have it, by the time we got round to actually shooting, winter had come around and we were treated to a beautiful crisp morning (bit of an understatement – it was bloody freezing) with lots of light and autumnal colours which provided a rusty quality to the style of the shoot.
I lit some of the earlier shots with a softbox to add a consitent feel across the images. I’m normally one to remove a lot of colour saturation from my work but with this I wanted to keep that orangey rust-like tone, whilst removing a lot of blue hues from the sky so that the skin tones and landscape had colour priority.
Despite the moody aesthetic that seems to ever creep into my work, the band themselves were incredibly easy to work with and not ones to take themselves too seriously. These are always the best kind of people to work with and help you to feel like they trust you without trying to micromanage the session. In fact we joked it could have easily been a promotional shoot for a new estate agent company rather than a band.
It was great to finally get around to making things happen and all the waiting and planning eventualy worked out for the best. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Idle Minds. Cheers guys!
Continuing on from the success of the Gwent Doorstep campaign, I was contacted by the Swansea division of Foster Wales to shoot more images of local carers on their doorstep to further highlight the diversity of the organisation.
In a similar fashion to the Gwent campaign, I spent a few days down in Swansea travelling between the homes of various carers and hearing their stories and reasons for why they decided to support young people in need. As always, it proved an enlightening and inspiring project and I’m grateful for their honesty and warm nature which helped me to capture their portraits in a relaxed and unimposing manner.
The main challenge with this shoot was working around the declining weather and the shorter window of day light. Winter days in Swansea aren’t always the most visually attractive and I was ever mindful when planning for travel time and introductions. I’d debated bringing my lighting rig but ultimately decided against in the name of consistency with previous shoots, and the time it would save should I need to shoot in wet conditions.
Fortunately the weather held out when we needed it to!
Thank you to Foster Wales for once again recruiting my services and giving me the opportunity to work some wonderful, selfless people who help change children’s lives. You can view a few examples from the campaign below.
If you think you can make a difference to a child’s life and have the capacity inside your home to accomodate them, why not contact Foster Wales for an informal chat or more information. You’d be surprised how many people are perfectly suited to foster.
Why foster with your local authority? That’s the million dollar question.
The amount of children across the country without stable homes is sadly on the rise and there has never been a bigger demand for foster carers in Wales. Children under the age of 18 face relocation and even potential separation from their siblings if they’re not taken in by willing, responsible adults in their local area. This comes at the cost to the local authority, the tax payer – and more importantly – the relationships and future stability of the children concerned.
I was recently commissioned by Foster Wales to assist in their October ‘doorstep’ campaign to recruit potential and prospective foster carers. The concept was to show existing foster carers from different regions all stood on their doorsteps to ask the metaphorical question: “Could you open your door to a child in need?”, with the emphasis on why fostering locally is so important.
The project required me to travel around the five local authorities of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen to photograph foster carers outside their homes. I was then responsible for the art direction and production of the social media ads (I’m also an experienced graphic designer) which needed to feature quotes from the models in both Welsh and English, while adhering to Foster Wales’ branding.
Meeting people and getting to know them has always been one of the things that drives my love of photography, and I’ve been fortunate to have worked with some incredible people but speaking to these foster carers was a moving experience. Everyone was so welcoming and accomodating, despite not always being entirely comfortable with having their pictures taken. They were all prepared to cast their trepidation aside for a cause they’re all so passionate about. I got the sense that every one of them loved the children they care for as if they were their own, and for that they all deserve a medal. The difference these people make to a child’s life is immeasurable.
If you think you can make a difference to a child’s life and have the capacity inside your home to accomodate them, why not contact Foster Wales for an informal chat or more information. You’d be surprised how many people are perfectly suited to foster.
