The Dress
This book project follows Emily’s mum, as together with her daughter, they collaborate to design and make her wedding dress. The first pictures were made in late 2019 with the wedding planned for the summer of 2020. But when Emily and her fiancé were forced to postpone their wedding until 2021, natural, my project had to adapt. The final series of pictures deal with themes including family history, process, the pandemic, and the nature of documentary photograph. Included in the book, completed in 2022, are a number of photographic processes and techniques such as photomontage, analogue photography including 35mm and large format 4×5, polaroid, mixed media, photograms and digital imaging. Read more about the project on PetaPixel.com
Autumn/Winter Fashion Collections
Shot in 2001 for the biennial magazine ‘The Fashion’ this series of images showcase six designers chosen by the magazine from the 01/02 Ready to Wear collections. Shot in locations around London over the course of three days, each image is a carefully constructed tableau intended to depict the process of constructing a fashion image. Stylists, hair and makeup artists and lighting assistants are all included alongside models wearing Prada, Gucci, Yvess Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and Miguel Adrover.
Taking inspiration from an earlier series of street photographs, each image montages together multiple shots to create the final tableau. In some cases the same model appears multiple times within the same image. The series was shortlisted for the The Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography in 2003.
Our Dream Wedding
Shot at one of the largest wedding fairs in the UK, this series of portraits attempts to explore the varied hopes and dreams, diversity, and the bonds between people as they plan for their big day. Visiting the fair alone or as a recently engaged couple, with bridesmaids or mum along for moral support, the series juxtaposes candid portraits, shot on 4×5 large format film, with a quote from the subjects about their dream wedding.
Dreams of the perfect fairytale wedding that may have been formed in early childhood, dreams that have only been realised on meeting each other, or dreams that may have been shaped by circumstances. Faced with the weight of expectation and a hitherto hidden, and at times overwhelming wedding industry, the portraits seek to reveal what really matters to each couple.
The Secret
There are so many characters and stories on the wedding day that are easily overlooked among the celebrations and focus on the newlyweds. While most of the attention is rightly on the newly married couple, I wanted to celebrate the longevity of marriage, and so in 2016 I decided to make a series of portraits of the longest married couples at each of the weddings I photographed. Each portrait is also accompanied by the sitter’s response to the question, What is the secret to a long and happy marriage? Their answers, at times funny and at times thought provoking, reveal the qualities needed and the journey couples have been on during, in some cases 50+ years of marriage.
I’ve always been draw to unfinished paintings whenever I see one hanging on a gallery wall. My mixed media portraits are intended to mimic the style of these unresolved oil paintings by some of the masters. The sitters were photographed individually on the wedding day, before being digitally montaged together and outputted as large format prints. The prints were then worked on by repeatedly layering ink, paint, pencil and charcoal in order to merge the photographic elements together. Read my interview about the project on HuffingtonPost.co.uk
Paris Fashion Week
Originally called ‘Poser’ and shot for the website Showstudio.com, in this project I used a mirror to reflect the sitter’s image back at them as members of the fashion pack wait back stage and on the front row for the shows to start. The images are shot on a camera phone and were updated live to the website throughout fashion week.
The concept was originally inspired by the Michael Powell film ‘Peeping Tom’ (although my reinterpretation is far less gory!) The project was later exhibited at Somerset House as part of their Fashion Revolution exhibition. See more of the project on SHOWstudio.com
