Olympic Dreams Book Cover by James Dodd

Having realised that most of my ‘we like’ articles are about photography, I started work on a lovely little article about illustration. But that all came to a stop as soon as I saw ‘Olympic Dreams’ – a beautiful series of photographs by James Dodd – that I just had to write about. So it’s photography again!

When I first saw them, these beautiful black and white shots really stopped me in my tracks. I’m now kicking myself that I missed the exhibition in Sheffield late last year. Read more…

At the beginning of August I had the pleasure of judging the 23^rd SUN Awards (Shot Up North). Showcasing the best photographers north of London is now in it’s 23^rd year. The judging took place at Doug Curries studio in Leeds where I meet some great people all with different backgrounds:

Ed Horwich, photographer and organizer of the awards along with Doug. Seamus Ryan – Photographer, Rob Walker – Photographer, Vicky Munro from Brass, Clair Watkin from Comma Ca and Jon Cohen of Fuji Film (non-voting chair and adjudicator) oh and we couldn’t forget Woody the dog.

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I’m no budding photographer, but like many people, I do love the convenience of capturing what I want when I want. However, despite finding my iPhone’s camera feature being incredibly handy it can get a little boring. You see, I’m a big fan of instant photography and was very sad to see the demise of the Polaroid and cameras alike. What I loved about them, particularly Polaroid cameras were the reddish tints, grainy prints and dark edges. It gave your photographs so much more personality than those found today on Facebook. It’s hard to explain what it is, but it’s like when you’re having a clear out at home and you find an old photo of your parents from the 70s, there’s something instantly hypnotic about it. Don’t get me wrong, digital cameras are fantastic in their own right. The ability to take hundreds of photographs, preview, edit and upload them to the web in seconds is just a few reasons why film photography has been left dead, not to mention it’s a hell of a lot cheaper. What I want though is something that gives me the quality and personality of Polaroid and the convenience of digital.

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This is a strange one for the we like section but I’m treating it as more of a celebration of the life and work of photographer, Corinne Day who sadly passed away recently after a long term illness.

Corinne’s unique style introduced us all to a new way of shooting fashion. It’s a more realistic, unposed & edgy feel known as ‘heroin chic’ which to some people was seen to “make heroin addiction seem glamorous and sexy and cool”. And although her style at times was shocking it has changed the way we all look at fashion photography. Helping us to try new styles and inject more personality.

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Have you heard of Direct Mail packs receiving multiple bids on ebay? I hadn’t either until I searched for ‘Rapha’ on ebay a few weeks ago. Rapha produce super stylish, retro tinged clothing for the road cyclist and is quite an aspirational brand for me. In fact completely aspirational as I don’t own a single piece of their clothing yet! The direct mail pack that was subject to intense bidding on ebay was a simple 16-page leaflet with ravishing full bleed black and white photography, no prices and few words except for the web address and a list of products. It sold for an incredible £8.50. Extraordinary customer behavior by any brand’s standards I think, let alone one that only launched in 2004 with one core product; a super expensive softshell jacket. Did I bid for the DM pack?  Of course not. I already had a copy of my own stashed safely away.

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Location photo-shoots are one of my favourite parts of my job as an Art Director at Red C. I love the exhilarating mix of logistics, teamwork, improvisation and on the spot creativity that is required to pull off a successful shoot for a client. Factor the British weather into the mix and it can make for quite a challenging day!

However when the excitement is over you can find yourself sitting in a Travelodge feeling like Alan Partridge, contemplating dismantling the trouser press. So it’s great when you meet a photographer who is not only up to the job of taking fantastic images but can entertain you in the bar that evening (whilst the days photos are uploading, obviously) with wild tales of photographing Motley Crue and Aerosmith in LA!.

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About five minutes walk from our Manchester office in Salford Quays there is the fabulous Lowry Gallery and Theatre… not far beyond that, over a bridge, is the Imperial War Museum North which is currently showing a fabulous exhibition by the very talented Don McCullin, who is rightly regarded as one of the world’s best photographers.

For more than 50 years, McCullin’s images have shaped our awareness of modern conflict and its consequences. His courage and integrity, as well as the exceptional quality of his work, are a continuing inspiration and influence worldwide.

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At Red C we love working with talented and passionate individuals, which is why we thoroughly enjoyed working recently with Trevor Forrest… who was the Cinematographer on our recent commercial for Cottages4you and also qualifies for the status of ‘bloody nice bloke’.

The Director of the commercial, Phil Taylor, told me how he had wanted to work with Trevor for a long time… and having worked with him on this project I can see why. The consummate professional at all times, Trevor worked his socks off to ensure the shot that was captured on camera was as lush and inviting as it could be… which has led to a great looking commercial.

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Nick Knight is near the top of my imaginary ‘photographers I’d love to commission one day’ list. I’ve been an admirer of his work ever since I laid my eyes on his series of fabulous, color-drenched images created for Yohji Yamamoto in the early nineties. Nick Knight is now the uncrowned king of the digital fashion photography with his striking, beautifully composed, digitally manipulated images that often challenge the conventions of fashion photography.

Despite being a perennial favourite with the great and the good of the fashion world he hasn’t shied away from tackling controversial issues as racism, disability and ageism within mainstream media. My favourite example being his stunning photography for a Levi’s Jeans campaign featuring the original wearers of Levi’s Jeans, some of whom were over 70 years old.

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We’ve had some pretty big books in reception over the last couple of weeks, so thanks to Tracey Gibbs and her fab collection of photography books… we have a tiny one this time. But don’t let the size fool you… these photographs are as amazing as any of the ones you may have seen in those big books!

Mick Williamson makes small, intimate photographs; with an intuitive feel for light, contrast and texture, he captures the fleeting moments of everyday life, finding beauty in the smallest scenes and details.

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