Cannes 2010

No sooner am I back at work, and while still trying to settle in a new home, than it's Cannes Film Festival time again. The town of Cannes had been battered by storms the week prior to the festival, but all credit to the organisers it was up and running (with sunshine) in time for the start - albeit to a back-drop of bulldozers shoring up the beach.
It wasn't a classic year in terms of celebs appearing (Sheryl Cole as one of the main highlights? C'mon...) but it's the kind of event that you have to attend every year or risk losing your place. Every photographer is allocated a spot on the red carpet, but only those lucky enough to get a front row number actually stand where they're meant to. The rest of us end up peeping over shoulders and squeezing into gaps where we can see clearly (a few ingenious snappers even bought hugely stacked glam rock/70's disco shoes to give them a height advantage - I see a photographer's fashion trend emerging). The shot above of Naomi Campbell was taken at a point where I couldn't see clearly, and consequently includes the melee of photographers in front of me and beyond. Ironically it was my best selling image during the festival, but I guess when there's so many 'clean' shots of someone, getting something a bit different makes a change.

J-Lo and Cheryl Cole providing some much needed glamour for the festival.

Sky HD

Oh, how we suffer for our art.
I was shooting portraits and background stills today of rugby player Lewis Moody while he filmed a piece for Sky HD. The piece was to demonstrate the clarity of HD TV, by showing a Lewis tackle from an opponents point of view. Poor Lewis had to make repeated runs and tackles under a bitterly cold rain machine, wearing a variety of HD cameras filming his face and feet as he ran. (On a geek note, I noticed that Sky used a Canon SLR 7D to film a lot of the scene, so the video capability of cameras like my 5D really are up to scratch.) The heavy backlighting and rain made my job difficult, trying to focus on a fast moving Lewis through the bright mist while avoiding flare from the lights, but luckily he made enough runs for me to get what I needed.
After all the tackling, I had to get a close up portrait of Lewis' 'psyche-out' stare for Metro. The poor fella was so cold by this point that me keeping him from the warm for an extra five minutes put genuine hatred in those eyes. If it's any consolation to him, I only had a thin linen jacket on for protection, and was soaked and shivering too. As Billy Connoly said "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices."

3,2,1 and you're back in the room.

You may or may not have noticed a quiet absence on my part recently. It's not from laziness or lack of work that I haven't posted any entries since Sep 2009, but more because I've been away on sabbatical with my family.
But I'm back now.
That's no guarantee of regular posts, but if I see/hear/do anything interesting and find 5 minutes to write about it, I will.

GQ

GQ Awards time again. Funny how these events become markers or my year. Not a classic one this year, but a few notables. Nice to see Elvis Costello getting some overdue recognition, and looking dapper as ever. Eva Mendes was on good form, and appealingly shy and nervous when presenting an award. James Nesbitt hosted, and opened impressively as a crooner. The boy can sing. David Walliams poked fun at his 'best dressed' award by receiving it wearing cut-off shorts and diving goggles, Mickey Rourke was cadging fags in exchange for photos and flirting with every female in radius, while Kate Moss couldn't keep still and ended up pole dancing around a pillar!?
Interesting...

3D

I'm in Berlin, working for Sony at the IFA consumer electronics show. They've just unveiled their plans for 3D television and gaming.
So far, so 80's - I remember seeing Jaws3D as a young 'un, and that was spectactularly rubbish at best.
But, the Sony version is impressive in that it WORKS. No more red and blue paper glasses (though you still have to wear glasses that look like tinted old-skool science safety goggles). The 3D effect is instant and all pervading. Playing on a Playstation game had me ducking from bullets and overhanging branches. A panning shot at a baseball game felt like you were really in the crowd. There's even a 3D version of my favourite Sony game, Little Big Planet.
Now imagine how cool it'll be when this 3D realism is married with the interactivity of a Nintendo Wii? It's only a matter of time...On a photography note, the challenge in illustrating this is that the people watching/playing in 3D are facing a screen, so your angles are limited. You're either looking over their shoulder at the screen, or facing them with the screen behind you, or side on to include both elements but with dead space in between. Lighting wise I have to expose for the screen as it's the brightest part of the scene, and use a bit of balanced flash to light the viewer/player.

Flicking the V

I've often wondered why band's tour managers insist on 'first three, no flash', especially when the stage lights are strobing and fans in the crowd directly behind us are happily flashing away with their cameras. One suggestion is 'because they can', meaning that it's just an exercise in control and power.
Lady GaGa at V this weekend had an even stranger set of instructions. We were allowed into the pit for three songs, no flash (so far, so normal) - but could only shoot the first ninety seconds of each song. So we'd snap away for ninety seconds, then get a tap on the shoulder and have to stand there like lemons for the rest of the song, before shooting the first ninety seconds of the next! I could've understood if something happened after ninety seconds, like pirotechnics or something they didn't want photographed (like when Lady GaGa exposed her crotch getting off a motorbike at a previous gig) but there wasn't. As far as I could see there was no reason for us to stop after ninety seconds of each song except control-freakery. Combine this with the low light, harsh back-lighting and huge amounts of smoke and we were hard pushed to get anything at all let alone something good.
The Killers were even more restrictive. Only three photographers were allowed to shoot their headline slot, and even they were only allowed to shoot from the back of the stage. And despite being the official photographer for the festival, I wasn't one of the three granted the privilege of snapping Brandon Flower's arse. I was, however, allowed to shoot from the disabled platform, in order to get some nice crowd shots and wide views of the stage, and I was told that there would be some explosive light-show in the last two songs - which meant I had to stand there for the entire set. I'm not a Killers fan, so that's an hour and a half of my life I'm never getting back!



The Noisettes were a new discovery for me, and since coming back from V I've already bought the album. Shame she got so much lipstick on her teeth, as she's a gorgeous woman, but it gave her a slightly scary look.
Scoop of the weekend was Amy Winehouse's surprise appearance onstage with The Specials. I was hastily whisked into the pit to get some publicity shots for the festival. The result of this was that all the other snappers presumed I had prior knowledge of it and that I had the 'inside track' of gossip at the festival. When Oasis pulled out of playing on Sunday, and Snow Patrol were promoted to headliners, photographers were told that we could snap them at the beginning of their set AND the encore. This started speculation that there might be another surprise guest-appearance, notably Noel Gallagher. The more I was asked, and the more I said I didn't know, the more people thought I was bluffing - to the point that I even started to wonder.Of course, there was no surprise guest, but Snow Patrol did play a couple of Oasis songs, and looked so genuinely chuffed to be headlining, that it made for a rousingly emotional ending.

Don't put chewing gum on the chair

Trident chewing gum are running a promotion to win tickets to see Beyonce at the O2. To publicise this they left folding chairs around London with a gold envelope marked 'Open Me'. If you read the instructions inside you were told to take that chair to Westfield that afternoon for a giant game of musical chairs, the top prize being a private box for 15 people at the Beyonce gig. It was really funny watching people's reactions to the chairs, from oblivious disregard to nervous intrigue. The snag we discovered was that often people would open the envelope, read the instructions, but not take the chair - so a new envelope would have to be added after they'd gone.
The musical chair game was entertaining, as 300 people scrambled, all desperate not to lose. At one point as the chairs became scarce there was a funny but potentially dangerous pile-up of bodies. But kudos to the chap who gave up his seat to a lady, when it looked like she was going to be 'out' - he was justly rewarded for his gallantry with a Beyonce ticket anyway.

BLT

Macmillan Cancer Support held their first 'Brick Lane Takeover' to raise funds and awareness for the charity. They had 41 gigs in one night, spread over 6 venues around Brick Lane.The highlight of this for many was Noel Fielding's new collaboration with Dave Brown (Bollo from the Mighty Boosh), an act called Doctor and the Pencil. This involved Dave DJ-ing (dressed as a giant pencil) while Noel drew sketches on a flip-chart and generally pranced around in a blood spattered lab coat.
They took a bit of a slating in the press, for not really doing much - but I quite enjoyed Dave's set (predictable crowd pleasers, maybe, but this part of the crowd was pleased all the same). And regardless of what Noel did or didn't do, there were guys and gals all screaming for him. It's got to be a nice feeling when all you have to do is stand up and raise your hands for the room to go mad.
The night ended with Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly (aka Sam Duckworth) playing an acoustic set at the after-party. The more I see him, the more I like his relaxed style. Mates and strangers were invited up to join in the singing, and he'd regularly break off from songs to chat to someone in the crowd. The epitome of an intimate gig.

Toy cameras

I've always had a fondness for 'toy' or novelty cameras: Lomo's, 3D cameras and wee plastic ones that take 4 striped images on one frame and wind on by pulling a string - I've got them all. I like the fact that they are a bit crappy and give unpredictable effects, and their lack of control is the antithesis of my day job. But now I need only carry one novelty camera: my iPhone. It's well known that the iPhone is no great camera, but instead of bemoaning what features it lacks, I'm enjoying it in the way I like my toy Cameras. I EMBRACE it's crappiness. And with an assortment of apps I can have all my toy cameras in one: there's a Lomo effect, Holga, Polaroid and even a multi-shot app. The shot above was taken of my pal Ash with a green hue Lomo effect.
EMBRACE THE CRAPPINESS!

Global Gathering

This is an out and out dance festival in Stratford Upon Avon. I didn't feel as out of place as I expected (loads of old ravers there), and I think I've now developed a taste for DubStep (or something else that went 'boom wicky wicky, boom wicky wicky'?)

I don't like cricket-ah...

...or so the song goes. Actually, it's not that I don't like it, I've just never understood it (I've tried, believe me, it's just not in me to be interested). So having to do a shoot with Paul Collingwood at the Oval, the day after England had spanked the Aussies's in the first test meant absolutely nothing to me. Not so the assembled journo's who were all desperately trying to get him to slag off the opposition. Paul seemed like a genuine chap, and I admired how he resoluteley refused to get drawn into saying anything untoward. As he pointed out, most of the Aussie team play county cricket, and outside the tests were his colleagues and mates. When accused of being England's 'chief sledger', he sensibly said that banter and winding players up have always been part of any sport, and it'd be a poorer game without it. Here's to the piss-takers!

Frock me!

Texprint is an annual competition for new textile designers, and this year was judged by Zandra Rhodes and Grayson Perry among others. I'd never paid much attention to Grayson, beyond the facade, but after meeting him I'm intrigued. I wasn't sure what to expect, but he's not camp or effeminate, he's just a bloke in a frock. The more I watched him the more I liked his idea. It challenges the preconception that men in girls clothes are different, weird etc. The fact that he's squarely heterosexual and blokey jarrs even more than if he'd minced about. It's that thing of context, like it's OK to wear speedo's at a swimming pool, but if you wore them to the shops you'd feel self conscious.

Burt's Bees - product launch

Apparently Burt really exists, and really does look like that. The story goes that he was a lo-fi beekeeper who sold his honey on the road-side next to his farm. One day he met Roxanne who's car had broken down nearby, and she then went on to help him sell his honey. Now Burt had years worth of beeswax stored up, without a use, so Roxanne started making candles, lip balm etc - and pretty soon they had a massive international franchise business. 

What I found interesting is that Burt, after initially moving to the smoke when the business outgrew his farm, eventually realised that he missed his simple life. So this guy, who still owns a multi-national cosmetics business, is back living in a converted turkey koop with no electricity or phone. Briliant.

Another interesting fact I gleamed from today (one for the ladies) is that an average woman will swallow approx. 4lbs of lipstick in a lifetime. At least all Burt's Bee's products are edible (they may not taste nice, but they'll do you no harm).

Glastonbury

I was working in the Guardian Lounge for most of the festival, but managed to get out to see Lady GaGa among others, and then fell in love with Little Boots when she came into the lounge. The Specials were special, and I'm trying to find out more about a band called Ebony Bones...
But I still managed a night or two in Shangri-La, Horsemeat Disco's tranny bar, and made it to the Stone Circle for dawn. Every year I find myself there, trying to capture something of the atmosphere that made Glastonbury so special the first time I went. Or maybe I'm just embracing the inner-hippy?

Window of Opportunity

After keeping all the photographers on tenterhooks all day at Glastonbury, dangling the carrot of 'maybe we'll let you in to shoot Bruce Bringsteen, oooooooooor maybe we won't' - Brucie's people finally gave a list of the hallowed few 5 mins before we were due in the pit (I wasn't on the list, but managed to get in with a bit of secret squirrel). When we got into the pit, we were told we'd have to shoot from the sides of the pit. As you can see from the pic above, we were miles away from him, with stairs, TV camera jibs and numpty security men who kept standing right in front of us. I've marked on the pic with a box the actual area where we had a clear sight of Brucie boy. Wow. There'll be a lot of keepers out of that set. The guys who weren't on the list and who went into the crowd on ladders cleaned up, because after our 3 song limit, Brucie came out and ran up and down the barrier, right in from of them.
'F*ckwit of the festival' goes to whoever in Brucie's camp thought they could control pictures by restricting who got in and then restricting where even that golden few could shoot from. All they did was push all the other photographers into the crowd, where they couldn't exercise any control over them at all.
This was one of only a few usable shots out of my time there. I almost wish I hadn't bothered.

Heart Throb in The Mall

A friend recently asked me if I could help out by contributing some photos of Amy Winehouse, for a collaborative exhibition on pop icons. The exhibition is called "Heart Throb" and features sculptures, paintings, prints and photographs of and inspired by pop/rock icons.

My contribution is a tryptych (three pictures in one), showing Amy at different stages of her career.

I was pleased enough to be invited to take part, and was impressed at the posh location, but absolutely gobsmacked when I saw who I'd be exhibiting alongside. Other contributors to the show include Sir Peter Blake, Terry O'Neill and John Lennon.

Gulp!

"Heart Throb"

10am-5pm, 25th June-3rd July

The Mall Galleries

The Mall

London SW1

Grade A

I had a nice compliment the other day. I bumped into the producer of the Pot Noodle ad's I'd recently shot set stills for. He was telling me that they were so happy with my pictures, they used them to grade the film.

"Eh?" I asked.

"It means, we used your photos as a template, and adjusted our video to match the colours and contrast of your pictures".

Cool.

Pants

Oxford Street was closed for the unveiling of the latest David Beckham/Armani pants poster today. The banner was the full height of Selfridges, and the organisers had a three minute window where traffic would be stopped for the unveiling.

I was working for the production company responsible for the event, and they wanted wide shots of the banner, store and street. Thanks to Westy from PA who swapped places with me, allowing me to shoot from a window across the street.

50mm ƒ1.4

I've been using my 50mm ƒ1.4 lens quite a lot recently, for portraits and personal work, mainly because it's very shallow depth of field gives a quite distinct look. I've also come to realise that this £200 plastic cased lens absolutely p*sses on my considerably more expensive zoom lenses in terms of sharpness.

These shots were for a friend of mine who has a traditional barbers shop near Leicester Square.

Cannes it be true?

Here we are again, another year, another Cannes. This year's festival felt busier than last year, in terms of running around, yet without the big name celebrities to go with it. And combined with the poor exchange rate, which made it the most expensive year to be in Cannes, it wasn't the greatest year.

The nearest I got to a scoop was the night a few of us sat in a bar, me with my camera at my feet having come straight from a job, till daylight crept across the marina. The bar was all but empty, and as we got up to leave so too did one of the other remaining tables - including Paris Hilton. Four photographers and two celebrity journalists, sat for 4 hours in a bar with Paris Hilton, and not one of us spotted her! And did I suddenly leap into action to get that exclusive papp shot?

Umm, nah.

Mariah Carey at a photocall for her new film 'Precious'.

Altogether now: "he's behind you!" - old leather face himself Johnny Haliday.

Sophie Marceau & Monica Bellucci, at the premiere of 'Ne Te Retourne Pas'.

Verne Troyer is 'dwarfed' by photographers at the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS benefit.

(see what I did there?)