Paul O Grady

A few weeks ago I shot Paul O'Grady at the Hilton Hotel by Tower Bridge in London. This shoot was lots of fun, it was so great to meet Paul and hear his stories (of which there are many!)

We slated the Pope's visit, talked Gay rights, and voiced our disgust at the cuts set to happen under the new Government! Don't get me started!......

.....Oh, we also had lots of laughs.....

SALLY MILES

Earlier this year I shot Sally Miles who is the chief executive officer at Passion Distribution. We shot at Sally's home in South London. The theme was "Desperate Housewives/ she's planning a poisoning''
And look at that chicken! I think every kitchen should have one of those.

Street Mirrors in Singapore

Sometimes I see something out and about and i get quite obsessive about shooting it from millions of slightly different angles. This happened with these street mirrors in Singapore. I was out with my camera and feeling slightly uninspired until I came across these mirrors. I ended up spending a good 50 minutes on this street corner taking random shots of the reflections and what looking at what happened when different cars, buses and bikes drove past.......I think the street is called Koon Seng Road, just off Joo Chiat Road.

And yes, there I am, looking quite ridiculous in my very short shorts. Boy, was it hot though!

Johnni J

I recently shot my good friend Johnni for the World of Wonder. He is a TV Producer at WOW and so much fun to work with.
Johnni wasn't actually that keen to get in front of my lens. Not because of my photography but he just hates having his photo taken. And we also weren't really sure what to do with him!
Here are some the shots, I was quite pleased with how it went in the end....

Louie Spence out-takes

Here are the some of the shots I liked that weren't used in the Attitude article....
Also I shot Gok Wan for Attitude last week so watch this space to see those shots!

Nikole Lowe.....

I re-edited my shots of Tattoo Artist Nikole Lowe and decided on a new favourite which wasn't selected in my earlier blog post. I like the energy, fun and confidence of this shot.....

Manchester Tattooist Louis Malloy

I recently shot award winning tattoo artist Louis Malloy at his studio in Middleton, Manchester.

Louis designed David Beckham's famous back tattoo depicting a bald, winged, angelic figure. Beckham calls the tattoo his 'guardian angel' and premiered it in 1999 after work finished in April that year.
Other celebrities tattooed by Lou include Spice Girls Mel C, Mel B, Victoria Beckham and Ronan Keating.

In 2007, Louis became part of Discovery Channel's documentary programme 'London Ink' featuring the daily happenings at his tattoo parlour.

It was a pleasure to meet and shoot Louis. I liked that he didn't want to necessarily be depicted in the stereotypical way tattoo artists are often depicted, holding a needle and covered in tattoos himself.

Below is my edit from the 30 minute shoot.....

JON RONSON - WORLD OF WONDER

I just shot a portrait of writer/ documentary film maker Jon Ronson. Jon is most well known for his book, 'Men Who Stare At Goats' which has been turned into a major motion picture starring Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. Jon also writes columns for the Guardian and has made a number of Documentary films.

We shot at Jon's house in Hampstead and had 20 minutes (with losing light) to catch the below shot.....

....don't you just love Jon's dog???!! I think Floppy makes the picture. (no offence Jon, obviously i think you look great too!)

John Sergeant - World of Wonder

I am currently working on a series of portraits to be published in a book to celebrate the World of Wonder's 20th Anniversary. The World of Wonder are an LA based indie production company who also have a London office.

John Sergeant has produced and researched many documentaries for the World of Wonder. We had 30 minutes to do 2 set ups in his Brixton flat and came up with the following portraits.

THE AMERICAN'S ENCOUNTER WITH A BRITISH BULLDOG

My favourite moment from a recent shoot is pictured below.  

The model/ actor below, Austin, was fresh to London from LA for the very first time.  Instead of showing him some of the usual tourist hot spots, we whisked him straight to London's East End, where I was shooting in the rain on the streets around various council estates.  

Walking back to our winebago, I spotted this bulldog tied up in a van.  After asking the owners permission and enquiring into whether the bulldog was a friendly character, I asked Austin to go and acquaint himself.  Nervous at first, we eventually got him in the van where he got well and truly mauled (in a playful way).  My assistant and I were howling with laughter as I shot it.....Austin was a great sport!

THE SALTON SEA

The Salton Sea is a saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Riverside and Imperial Counties in Southern California. It is located below sea level, with the current surface of the Salton Sea at 226 ft (69 m) below sea level. The lake covers a surface area of approximately 376 sq mi (970 km²), the largest in California.

The name "Salton" appears to be connected with salt mining in the area, at least as early as 1815. With the extension of a rail line through the basin, large scale salt mining started in 1884. After that, the general area is referred to as the 'Salton Sink' or the 'Salton Basin', "sink" or "basin" referring to the area's bowl-shaped topography.

The creation of the Salton Sea of today started in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell and breach an Imperial Valley dike. It took nearly two years to control the Colorado River’s flow into the formerly dry Salton Sink and stop the flooding. As the basin filled, the town of Salton, a Southern Pacific Railroad siding and Torres-Martinez Indian land were submerged. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea.

The lack of an outflow means that the Salton Sea is a system of accelerated change. By the 1960s it was apparent that the salinity of the Salton Sea was rising, jeopardizing some of the species in it. The Salton Sea currently has a salinity exceeding 40‰ (parts per thousand) (saltier than seawater) and many species of fish are no longer able to survive in the Salton. Fertilizer runoff, combined with the increasing salinity and the highly polluted water from the northward-flowing New River have resulted in large algal blooms and elevated bacteria levels. The New River is considered to be the single most polluted river in America.

I visited the Salton Sea in April 2009 and it was a spooky experience. It was baking hot, at least 37 degrees C; I felt like I was in the middle of the desert. It was creepily quiet, long since abandoned and full of remnants of a life that once was. The ground by the sea crunched as I walked, it was covered in small fish bones caked in dried up salt. Dead, rotten, dried out fish were washed up on the shore. There was no breeze. A ghost town of a different kind.













Beyond the immediate area of the actual sea was an equally creepy half abandoned trailer park. The few people living here were like 'the ones that got left behind', ghostly people who would just appear, seemingly out of nowhere. Most of the trailers were boarded up and dilapidated, some were for sale. People drove around on golf buggies and seemed to have never left the trailer park. I asked an old geezer on a golf cart what existed on the other side of the sea. His dog promptly attacked me while he looked on at me like nobody had ever spoken to him before. I didn't hang around for very long.