A few months ago I was commissioned to produce and shoot Shelter UK Xmas campaign. We had to capture a scene involving 21 people all in one shot: a mixture of models, actors & real people... (real mother with child, elderly and Shelter staff... yes, we had a very long casting). The main image was in a train platform in a quiet station outside North West London. It has been a real pleasure working in the project along with a great team and for such a good cause. Our main problem was in fact the weather, as it turned out to be one of the hottest day of the year, and we were shooting a winter scene (representing a cold December) with everyone wearing winter coats, scarfs & hats. Some of the images can be seen now... I have just been told that the posters are currently in Kings Cross Station in London.

Proximity Ad agency in London hosted their annual X'mas Photographic Competition in a rainny Dec night. The photographer who wins receives a commission for 2010 and the proceeds from the print sales go to RNLI charity in London. I contributed with one of my Snow Series images. The night was great fun with plenty of drinks flowing and chatting to friends from the industry. I had the most amazing time while on my way there: strangely, in a traffic jam...  observing & capturing the beautiful shapes & texture created by the city lights against the wet and steamy glass of the window screen. (see below).

Over the weekend of 5th & 6th of Dec, Lensmodern.com held an exhibition (print sales) at the beautiful Dairy Studio in South London. The weekend was a feast for photography lovers as there was an amazing collection of classic (Pink Floyd original covers, Rolling Stones early days images) and contemporary photography, all in one large room... and with plenty of wine and beer flowing during the whole event. I had the opportunity to show my work to a new audience plus meet and chat with great photographers who I knew and admire the work of, including: Max Forsythe, Ken Griffiths, Andreas Heumann, Barry Cawson & Chris Simpson to name a few...  

Last night was the private view of the Red Dot Exhibition at the beautiful AOP Gallery, The event was designed to raise money for the PhotoVoice charity. Images were selected from AOP members and auctioned during the evening. All proceeds from the sales were donated to PhotoVoice. I had two of my "Snow Series" selected and luckily they both got sold.

I had the honor and greatest pleasure of being commissioned by the Sunday Times magazine to take the portrait of Dame Vera Lynn. The photograph took place at her beautiful home in Sussex and I was lucky enough to meet most of the family for a lovely afternoon with tea and cakes while chatting & listening to amazing life stories. "We'll Met Again: Very Best Of Vera Lynn" released by Decca Records, has recently reached number one again, making Dame Vera Lynn (92) the oldest living artist to make into the number one spot. 

Studio 106 (a 300m2 artist studio in Hove) is opening for another Xmas show. This years exhibition involves a collaborative theme, based on the Samuel Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. Artists include: André Lichtenberg, Maria Tribe, Henrik Simonsen and Dan Bennett to name a few.

Studio 106: 1st Floor - 106, Coleridge St - Hove - BN3 5AA

Private View: Thu 26th Nov (6 to 9)

Opening hours:
Sat 28th - Sun 29th Nov (11am to 5pm)
Sat 5th - Sun 6th Dec (11am to 5pm) 

Brighton Photo Fringe is delighted to announce that the OPEN 09 exhibition "From Here" has been extended until 29th November, due its huge popular and critical successes. The show, curated by John Gill (lead curator), is being held in a fabulous space in central Brighton and has images from artists from all corners of the globe. (some artists work are featured below).

From Here: 13, Black Lion St - Brighton
Opening times: Fridays to Sundays  (12 to 5pm)

The Sunday Times magazine commissioned me to take the portrait of Graham Short, a hand engraver who became famous by engraving the Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin (see image below), currently on display at The Art Lounge gallery in Birmingham. Graham uses an old school approach to his work (he uses a microscope, a lamp and a box os small tools... also Graham engraves mainly at night and between heart beats). He currently works from a small room in his mother's house (see below), Among Graham clients you'll find the Royal family and celebrities such as Richard Branson.

Two of my Snow series images have been selected for the RED Dot Exhibition 2009 at the AOP Gallery in London. The private view and auction evening will take place on Wed 2nd of Dec (6-9pm). All profits from print sales (opening bidding for all prints will be £ 40) will be donated to PhotoVoice charity.

Red Dot Exhibition will run from 2nd Dec 2009 to 14th Jan 2010.
Opening times: Monday - Friday from 10am - 6pm
AOP Gallery: 81, Leonard St - London EC2 

At Halloween weekend, the Guardian and the Observer published a 2 part stylish guide called "Guide to the night". They selected and invited two artists whose work explore "night", to feature in the central double page. The first part of the guide (Guardian 31st Oct) shows the work of the Gregory Crewdson, a well known and successful American artist, and part two (Observer 1st Nov) features "Night Travellers" from my Full Moon series. To see more of the series click: "portfolio" followed by "moon". Below are copies of the double pages...

Oct 31st 2009, Hallowen morning - A dressed up, colorful and happy crowd of a few thousands gathered in Brighton beach with the intention of breaking the Time Warp World record. The weather was not helping (cold, dark & wet) but the crowd didn't seem to mind, dancing and screaming along with Richard O'Brien & the Rock Horror crew. I happened to be passing by with my camera and a press pass, so I joined the backstage party and took a few pics to share with you.

I've just received an email letting me know that some of the Vertigo Series images have been selected for a show about the AOP Awards 2009 in the London Offices of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. The exhibition, showing only 32 images from the Awards, will remain at AMV until November 2009.

I've spend a few hours with the new up and coming band "the Perils", creating some new images for their press. We shot in three different locations but my favorite was definitely the roof top on the Brighton sea front (see images below) which looks just like a hotel roof top in Copacabana or Miami. 

"From Here", an exhibition curated by John Gill (Mentor curator, Brighton Biennial - together with three up and coming curators: Chloe Hoare, Max Houghton and Yasmina Reggad) is currently open in the old lanes in Brighton. The opening night was a big success with the gigantic floor space looking stunning & feeling actually crowded from time to time. From Here will be open until Sun 8th of November. Below are some pics from the Private View.

Opening hours: Friday to Sunday 12 - 6 pm
Moore House: 13 Black Lion St. - Hove - BN1 1ND 

This October, as a prequel to next year’s Biennial Festival of Photography, Brighton Photo Fringe is pleased to present From Here.
Three emerging curators, Chloe Hoare,Max Houghton and Yasmina Reggad, were chosen to work with mentor curator John Gill to select an exhibition from over 4000 images submitted from all corners of the globe.

The Brighton Arts Fair 2009 has just finished and I was exhibiting there for the first time.
I feel very positive about the experience and also totally exhausted... after three and a half days of giving my full attention to art & photography lovers and people from the art industry.
The "full moon", the "snow" and the "vertigo series" were received really well and the early numbers of the small limited editions quickly snapped away.  

Just received an envelope in the post which wasn't a bill (now, that's a change...)
Inside (for my pleasant surprise) was a professional looking A4 golden Award saying that I have won the title of Nominee in Architecture/Professional with my Vertigo "Neon Blue", Great!!!
Reading further I've learnt that the judges included: Christie's (New York), National Geographic Channel, Musee de la Photographie, National Museum of Singapore, Dazed & Confused (London), Fine Art Society (London), Musee de L'Elysee (Switzerland), etc...
I normally don't like the post but this one has made my day!!!

This is the book that I used to look for inspiration while at Uni, and dream of one day be able to be part of and have my images published in. Well, it took a while... several submissions in many Awards annual competitions, but it finally happened. Vertigo Series were selected for the Contemporary Landscape & Cityscape Series. 

Last night was the Gala presentation of the AOP Awards 2009. Below is a couple of images from the event. One showing the Vertigo Series that were selected for the Personal Contemporary Landscape & Cityscape Series, and another one from the event in the "Vertigo style", showing the beautiful architecture of the newly redesigned theatre.