Just a super famous guy who's been in two of the biggest TV series of all time then... Lovely to shoot a Shortlist cover, they're cool people creating a tasty mag with solid design, so it's all good with me. Shot in the Soho Hotel in London, he was soooooo jetlagged and chugging his way through whopping great coffees but surely delivered in a big way for our shoot. I love photographing actors you know - they can just turn it on. This was captured beautifully on a Hasselblad H6D-100c with a 100mm lens, with lighting by Broncolor Move as you never know what kind of power availability you might discover. All turned out lovely, as you can see.
Bradley Wiggins for Skoda/Fallon/Academy Films
Sir Bradley, aka Wiggo, in the hot seat for Skoda. Exciting to look down the barrel and see this legend training I have to say. I love this shot, for me the best imagery always lingers in the lulls between the main moments - that's where sports photography lives for me. Shot on Hasselblad H6D on a 50mm lens.
The project came about because for me it just had to.
I first visited in 2009, thanks to the marvellous NGO Riders for Health, on a whistle-stop shoot travelling through this remarkable mountain kingdom. On the winding, climbing roads I’d see herder boys working and could immediately see a story that I just couldn’t shake the image of - their silhouettes against the sky, these icons of Lesotho wrapped in the woollen blankets that provide their only protection from an intense sun or a brutal winter. The herder boys work astonishingly hard, for very low pay, in the toughest conditions imaginable. It is the only option available to some, who often have very little formal education and can enter into this employment from early childhood. Last November 2016, I was able to return to Lesotho to shoot these portraits and with some valuable assistance from the team at Riders I came home with some very special new work.
The exhibition has been supported very generously by Hasselblad. It has been printed and framed by Metro Imaging - the prints are truly stunning - and is being hosted at the White Space gallery (aka the old Photographers Gallery) just off Leicester Square in London from June 26th to July 1st 11-7pm daily. I'm really proud of it, please let me know your thoughts. Thank you.
You gotta see this...
Nick Cave June 2017 MOJO Magazine
Love this lot. Genuinely. They do such incredible work for Riders For Health and 19.5 million Africans with their transport solutions and I've loved working with them for ten years now.
Riders For Health Programme Manager portraits
Liam Bailey in the studio, sounding beautiful. Am a fan so you know, who doesn't like Blind Faith by Chase and Status huh?
Liam Bailey
More personal work, with the beautiful and fascinating ROY INC. Met him a few years ago and was a delight to get him back before my lens. He gets the whole thing beautifully and we came away with such a huge range of new work I could load this blog up til tomorrow. Shot on my Hasselblad H6D with Broncolor Move flash in Victoria Park East London. That's why he looks so good.
ROY INC in the park
She's a vocalist, talent, star, big gun. Elisabeth Troy has sung on those tunes you've sung in your car, ran along the canal listening to on your headphones and wiggled your bum to whilst washing up and we got her in the studio to smash out some stunning portraits. She's incredible, a feat of wonder and she's welcome back anytime.
Elisabeth Troy portrait
Excited, proud and nervous to announce a show of new work, to be held at the White Space gallery in London, with Hasselblad supporting and printing and framing by Metro Imaging. I travelled to Lesotho last November with the sole intention of documenting a story I saw back in 2009, when I first visited there with Riders For Health. That time I was shooting a motorcycle tour through the winding roads of the mountain kingdom, and from our 4WD we'd spot these incredible looking characters standing on hillsides looking over their herds. I swore then I'd return and while it took a few years, I finally got to shoot a project that could well be the best thing I've ever done. You best be the judge of that but I am feeling it A LOT. I'll be releasing the images soon but in the meantime, I owe huge thanks all over town for this so I best get cracking. Save the date and please come!
The Herder Boys of Lesotho
Vadry for last issue of Sport Magazine
Never great hearing the mag you really enjoy working with is being pulled when you're on set. A first even for me, but we ploughed on with Jamie here and nailed some lovely images that became all the more poignant with John Mahood's coverline 'The Party's Over' for the final issue of Sport Magazine. My portraits always looked great when John applied his magic and I'll miss this as an avenue for what I do. Huge thanks and commiserations to all involved and a massive shout out to all the dickheads everywhere. Cheers.
Richard Ashcroft for Q
Always, always wanted to shoot this cat since, ooh I dunno, 25 years now. He was always the coolest of the Northerners I thought, stylish and just a cut above. I heard he can be quite edgy but was well up for this on shoot day, as you can see here. No added photo trickery on this one, it's all about Cash for Questions in Q and set the things alight was the man's response. Shot on Hasselblad H6D-50 with Bron Move and beauty dish. Easy life.
Holiday. Normal service to be resumed forthwith, post haste and without delay.
Usain DPS in the Guardian
So the cover of Runners World, Sport Magazine and this DPS from the Guardian. A great shoot with the big man and all wrapped in 15 minutes...
Johnny Marr for Q
Incredible to share the same air as this cat, who's significantly shaped music for the good in his long career. Johnny told us fantastic stories, had got the lunch in and was so easy to shoot I could have hugged him by the end. Interestingly he had thought through all the shots he wanted to do, so I just had to squeeze some of my own past him, including this one, and we were back on the train. Shot on Hasselblad H6D, to top it all.
The Slumflower in the studio for CNN/Hasselblad
CNN came in to film me in the studio whilst shooting The Slumflower. Here's the movie, right here. We had a great time as she knows the way of the lens and can fashion her fashions in record time. 9 looks in 1 bag in 1 day. Heroic efforts the likes of which are previously unheard of.
A more beautiful and lovely performer and subject one couldn't hope to meet - if I had to photograph Angel daily for the rest of my career that would be ok. More in the new MOJO magazine, on your newsstands now good people.
Angel Olsen for Mojo Magazine
Here's that newspaper I've been banging on about. Click here if you've 19 seconds to spare.
Gilbert and George for The Longest Day
The Longest Day - A Portrait Of East London
More self-initiated project work - it's vital these days really isn't it? This one, shot on June 20th, The Longest Day - A Portrait of East London, really brought me to my knees. We shot from midnight to midnight, from Dalston to Shoreditch to Smithfields to Walthamstow, Bethnal Green and Victoria Park, a portrait every hour for 24 hours. It was proper graft but well worth it. Great to work on my own practice and demand better pictures of myself despite tiredness and sometimes having nothing planned. We're printing a newspaper with Newspaper Club for distribution Friday 24th June at Hoxton, Shoreditch and Old St stations from 8am. You gotta put yourself out there huh, else how will you ever know?
Alexander Ebero for Hasselblad H6D launch
A killer shoot, brilliant talent, loads of quick thinking and an exceptional team made for a truly memorable shoot. The kit works - it will change medium format as the price is so competitive, trade-ins are super-generous, the quality and optics are off-the-scale, the new developments (flash sync at 2000th!, USB-C, dual ports, touch screen) will truly make this an entirely new chapter for Hasselblad and I am really proud to be a small part of it. Plus they are really, really cool people who have treated me and my pictures really wonderfully throughout this experience.
