Comic Relief - Red Nose Day

Comic Relief asked me to shoot Jedward.



With a camera...


Actually it was great fun, the boys were mad as a box of frogs, and the kids at the school loved them to bits and had a brilliant time. It was utter chaos, but great to photograph. The school had written to Comic Relief asking if it would be possible for Jedward to visit, a bit like 'Jim'll Fix It' if you're my age and remember that.

They burst into the school hall to a stunned audience who started screaming immediately, Jedward then proceeded to create complete anarchy, eventually the teachers regained some form of order and they had a space hopper race which was surprisingly competitive! (I think Jedward really wanted to win!!)

All for Red Nose Day which is today, so if you feel like donating go to their site at

https://www.rednoseday.com/donate

Matt Smith in 'Christopher and His Kind'

Last year I worked on the BBC drama 'Christopher And His Kind' about Christopher Isherwood, who's book 'Goodbye To Berlin' the film/stageshow 'Cabaret' is based on.

Shot here in Northern Ireland and starring Matt Smith as Christopher Isherwood it dramatizes his experiences in 1930's Berlin. It's being screened this Saturday (19th March) at 9.30pm on BBC2 and will be worth a watch!

This was a great project to work on, as the costumes and makeup were stunning, especially on Imogen Poots and we had some fabulous locations to recreate 30's Berlin. I love photographing period dramas!

I finally got my first cover of the Radio Times, and a fairly decent spread inside. It's quite ironic really as in the past I have twice nearly got a cover of the Radio Times only to be bumped on both occasions by 'Dr Who', which is of course played by Matt Smith!!

The cover was shot in my studio, and art directed by Jo O'Leary from the BBC. One of the hardest things about being a stills photographer on a film is getting access to the actors as time is always so tight. We decided to shoot the background in-situ on set and then Matt in the studio against a plain background as we would have more time to light it and ultimately more time with him.

Titanic - The Mission

Channel Four commissioned me to photograph a recent program they were producing called 'Titanic The Mission'.

It follows four volunteers as they try to reconstruct different details from the famous ship. They were filming all over the UK, but part of that was of course here in Belfast where they were reconstructing a scaled section of the bow.
We had to wait until the film crew had their lunch to get the portraits done as it was impossible during filming.

The guys were great, they reminded me of a pop group, and I think I shot them with that in mind. Loved the big props lying around like the sledge hammer and massive spanner!



I was very happy to get the cover of the DVD edition!

Rhys Ifans

This is going back a bit, April 1999, or there about, photographing the brilliant and slightly mad Rhys Ifans for The Daily Telegraph. I had only seen him in Twin Town at that point, which I thought was a brilliant film, and he was about to appear as Spike in the film 'Notting Hill' hence the reason for the photo shoot.

The location was in some rented apartments in central London, I'll always remember how he greeted me when I arrived :

"Alright mate, my name's Rhys, the mini bar is over there, help yourself!!"

I knew straight away we were going to get along.

So as on a lot of the shoots I had a quick look around and set up my lights whilst he finished his interview with the journalist.

He turned out to be brilliant, full of energy and up for doing anything! What a joy to photograph compared with a lot of other actors. It was all a bit of a blur, as we rushed about my chosen locations in the 15 mins I had to complete the shoot. He was even happy to jump into the bath for a shot, what a great man!!

The shot that worked best for me was taken on the roof terrace, I really didn't need to prompt him much he pretty much just went mad in front of the camera as you can see from the contact sheets that I've scanned, but I was really pleased with this picture, as it pretty much sums Rhys up. Lovely chap, mad as a box of frogs.

Christopher & His Kind GT cover

Earlier this year I was the still photographer in the upcoming BBC drama 'Christopher and His Kind'.

Based on the story of Christopher Isherwood and his book about the Berlin gay scene in the 1930's.

The book was previously made into a musical you may of heard of called 'Cabaret'

Starring Matt Smith of Dr Who fame, Imogen Poots and Douglas Booth

Some lovely locations around Northern Ireland to shoot, including Mount Stewart for the cover and first DPS. One of the days was spent turning central Belfast in a Nazi flag strewn Berlin, I'll post shots of those after the film has been broadcast.

Absolutley delighted to get the cover of Gay Times and such a large spread inside. It's rare for stills to be seen used as well as this in publications, other than the TV and Film magazines.

Christopher and His kind should be on BBC 2 later this month, I think it will be well worth a watch.

Juliette Lewis

I had such a positive response regarding the shoot with Juliette Lewis on Facebook (thanks everyone!) that I thought I would post more photographs of the shoot.

It was for the Daily Telegraph, and I was sent down to a hotel in West London where she was staying with the band. The pressure was on right from the start as I was instructed by the paper to only get photographs of Juliette, but knew that her press officer would want to concentrate on shots of her with her band, Juliette and the Licks.

So a compromise was struck, I would get 7 mins with the band and get her on her own for the remaining 7 mins. I was also acutely aware that Juliette herself would not really be keen to be photographed on her own, as she was really pushing the band as a self contained unit.

One other thing that I was worried about, the fact that we had to do all this in the foyer of the hotel, which was a basically a public space and usually a nightmare to control.

I got to the hotel and did my recce, then set up my lights and waited for them to make an appearance. Suddenly this blonde girl appeared out of nowhere and I realised that she had bleached her hair ... very rock and roll

I can honestly say that Juliette did not disappoint one bit, she was brilliant to photograph, mad as a box of frogs, and it was all a bit of a blur, but I came away satisfied that I had captured some great shots.

Times Educational Supplement

I have the front page of the current Times Educational Supplement this week, they asked me to photograph a student who was waiting for her results. We did the shots the day before her results came out, so I hope she did well!

This was my first job for the TES, always nice to get a cover, it was 16 years ago since I showed this paper my portfolio, still better late than never!