Abstract Singapore

I've been meaning to go through the landscapes I shot when I was in Singapore earlier this year and finally got around to having a look at them.

Earlier (back in April) I posted my inspiration shots. The earlier shots were taken from a moving bus as I was trying to figure out what kind of project I wanted to shoot in Singapore. This meant they were more like snapshots. Below are my more considered shots.

My interest lies in abstracting the landscape and making it appear more graphic through my photography.
The buildings and landscape of Singapore held a certain beauty for me although it took me a while to find it. This is due to Singapore being so 'created' and commercial, which is not typically inspiring for me.

Now of course I want to go back and shoot more!

LARRY TEE

I shot Larry Tee the other week. Even if you haven't heard the name Larry Tee, I'm sure you will have heard some of his music or remixes, particularly if you are a fan of electro music like me. Here's some background:

Larry Tee hails from Atlanta, Georgia where he was friends with REM and his first group, the Fans, produced the B-52s' first independent single “Rock Lobster/52 Girls.” He moved to NYC with fellow Atlantans, RuPaul and Lady Bunny and quickly took over the NYC club scene with his epic party Love Machine. He started and named the infamous DISCO 2000 of Party Monster movie fame, DJ'ed the ROXY weekly, and co-wrote the Billboard Top 40 song Rupaul's “Supermodel (You Better Work).” In 1997 Larry Tee decided to get clean from drugs and alcohol and decided to re-examine his life and career. He turned to music for inspiration and championed a new sound and movement which became the Electroclash phenomena. He created the term “Electroclash” for his festivals in 2001/2002 (it's in the Oxford English Dictionary) which helped launch the careers of Scissor Sisters, Felix Da Housecat, 2 Many DJs/Soulwax, Peaches and many more.
Larry has just moved to East London and has launched a new club night in Shoreditch.

I met Larry at his new apartment, just off Brick Lane. Whilst chatting and discussing the shot and what we could do, Larry showed me his inspiration wall. Feeling inspired, the wall became the background for our shoot.

I loved hanging out with Larry and after hearing his stories, have since started my own inspiration wall.

Here are a few sample selects.....I'm sure my favourite will soon be posted on my website (www.alexgracephoto.com).....

Robert Farrar

I recently shot Robert Farrar, a playwright who has written novels, stories and songs for radio, TV, cinema and stage.
It was great to shoot Robert.
We wanted to portray the anxiety of reading the Review pages and hoping for good critiques....
Robert really got into the role, although I hope he doesn't spend every Saturday morning in such a state!

Behind The Scenes on my shoot with Lotan The Stripper

And here are some of the behind the scenes from my shoot with Lotan.
Lots of Police milling about in the background and a very interested passer by stopping to watch.

Luckily the Police didn't catch us out. I have a feeling, since the Queen was in residence and we shot during the changing of the guard, they might not have been too impressed. I asked a Policeman before we started shooting if they would object to a bit of nakedness but he said it could be seen as disrespectful to the Queen.
Personally, I would like to think that perhaps the Queen might have liked it, I mean something has to float her boat and it makes a change from boring tourists with cameras.

Oh and we had some interest in the park as well!

Donal Coonan

Donal Coonan is an actor, writer and presenter, who is most notable for presenting Channel 4's web show 'This is a Knife'
Below are some out-takes from my recent shoot with Donal. He is currently working on a comedy sketch where he dresses up as a jockey so we thought it would be quite amusing to have some 'horses' chasing after him......

Lotan in St James Park

Recently I shot Lotan Carter, a stripper with The Dreamboys, for Attitude Magazine. We started off shooting in St James Park but I was tempted by Buckingham Palace as a backdrop.....
Anyway, here is my edit from the park......

Lotan Out-takes

And here are some out-takes from the shoot at the Palace. I love the shots with the crowd in the background!

The Chroma Journal

A while ago Chroma contacted me to ask if they could use an image from my 'Special Project' on Gender Identity to accompany an article written by M. Ana Bolica and Misster Scratch, who are the subjects of one of my photos.

Chroma is a bi-annual queer literary journal promoting edgy, lyrical, and challenging prose, poetry and artwork by lesbian, gay, bi and trans writers and artists from around the world.

I was honored to contribute to such a great publication and here was the page.....

Lotan The Stripper

Earlier this month I photographed Lotan Carter, a male stripper with the Dreamboys, for Attitude Magazine. 

This shoot was SO MUCH FUN! 

The idea was to shoot in St James' Park  against a flower bed but I was inspired by Buckingham Palace and we shot this during the changing of the guard.  It was definitely gorilla style shooting (as in we weren't supposed to be there).  We were surrounded by police who were luckily looking the other way and Lotan wasn't perturbed about dropping his pants at all.  In fact I would say he quite enjoyed it!

More shots from my edit and some behind the scenes to follow......

www.alexgracephoto.com

My First Music Video

Here is the music video I shot a few months back.    It's not the most sleek but considering it was shot in half a day with zero budget,  I'm quite pleased with the results, although I do wish I had more footage to cut into the first half.
I love the 2nd half and the middle bit where I incorporate my stills photography.

I really enjoyed making the leap from stills to moving so the plan now is to get my reel together and do more, starting with an comedy corporate video shoot I am booked for tomorrow......

WATCH THIS SPACE!

Gok Wan Tear-sheets

Below are the tear-sheets from my latest shoot with Gok Wan for Attitude Magazine.
Gok was a delight to meet and shoot.  He was so easy, natural and full of fun banter.  And of course we didn't need a stylist!

We shot at Gok's home in South London and I managed to exceed expectations in terms of shot numbers......will post my personal edit at  later date.....for now here is the published article.....

Hmmmm......

Here is my very cheesey contributors bit placed in the Louie Issue of Attitude.  What was i thinking?  'Sweating it out in Asia' sounds rather dodgy when i read it in print.  Oh well, i'm now off for a disco dance....

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!