Jeanloup Sieff was born in Paris on the 3^rd of November 1933. He first started taking photographs at the age of 14, after being given a camera as a birthday present. He wanted to be a film director, but became a freelance reporter were he started working for Elle in 1955, he was just 22. In 1956 he progressed as a fashion photographer and by 1966 he worked with magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Glamour, Paris-Match, plus many more. He won a number of prizes, including the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in Paris in 1981 and Grand Prix National de la Photographie in 1992. He believed that if he had not received a camera as a birthday present, that he may have never been a photographer. He sadly died in Paris on the 20^th September 2000 aged just 66. Read more…

It’s a rainy day in Manchester. A man with a black beard is driving around suburban Manchester in a black 4×4, stopping to take photographs of driveways. He parks up and knocks on the door of a particularly well groomed 1930’s semi. He offers the somewhat startled owner £100 if she lets him place an industrial sized bottle bank and several empty wine and beer bottles on her driveway for a photographic shoot. Unsurprisingly perhaps, she declines his offer.

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Johnny's work for Marisota

Back when I was a Junior I was packed off to Manchester on a photo shoot for Yorkshire Electricity. My Art Director had come down sick, so it was up to me to step into his shoes for the day and take control of the Art Direction for a lovely Ad concept we’d come up with.

The Photographer we’d had booked for us by my CD was Jonathan Oakes, and what I learnt on that day has stayed with me all these years. One of the most important things it taught me was, when it comes to choosing a Photographer, you need someone with a passion for every job they undertake and who is determined to deliver a quality product every time.

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