President Sarkozy Makes A State Visit

Upon returning from my trip to Slovakia it became apparent that the talk of the press was of the arrival of Carla Bruni on a state visit, and whose imminent appearance was overshadowing the trip of her new husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, no less.
I went to Windsor to cover Sarkozy and his wife arrive in state carriages to Windsor Castle, beside the Queen and the Prince Philip. My position turned out to be very frustrating however, as first Sarkozy turned to look the other way as he went past before Carla did the same in the following carriage. The photographers situated on the other side of the road got the shots and I, along with others my side, had no meaningful photographs from the event. That's the problem with shooting carriages at Royal events - if they look your way as they go past you get can get a decent shot, but if they don't then you don't get a second chance as the carriages move at a surprising speed.
At any rate the shot of the day had been taken earlier in the day when the French couple arrived at Heathrow and were greeted by Prince Charles was gave Carla a kiss on the hand.

Supergrass Play The Roundhouse

It was back down to the Roundhouse to cover Supergrass, who were in great form for their first gig together since bassist Mick Quinn broke his back. Their set consisted of a lot of new material, but unfortunately I was unable to hang around for the whole gig as I had to rush back home to pack for a ski trip to Slovakia extremely early in the morning.

Model Alice Dellal Launches Little Black Dress Collection

I was at Selfridges today as MANGO launnced their "little black dress" collection, designed by Osman Yousefzada. Model Alice Dellal was showing off the dresses.

The Newspaper House

I was back in Dalston today to photograph artist Sumer Erek and his newly completed newspaper house as it was unveiled to the public.
It's a great idea to make use of discarded newspapers to highlight the need for recycling through art. It really gets on my nerves the amount of free papers thrust down our throats every day throughout London. You see so many discarded free newspapers all over the city, so much must get wasted.

Duffy Plays The Bush Hall

I arrived early on to find the photgraphers had to shoot from the crowd, and with the first row already filled with eager Duffy fans - which seemed to feature many gig goers in their 30s and 40s - I had to make do with shooting behind some punters. Thankfully I managed to find a central position behind a smallish lady. I'd done a bit of homework, watching Duffy perform on You Tube and found she took up a central position, with no mike stand, so I knew I was reasonably placed compared to other photographers dotted throughout the crowd.
For such a small venue the light was fantastic, and I got some really pleasing shots. Like Mr Faulkner last night, shooting concerts with light like this makes the job so much more fulfilling.

Artwork and Newton Faulkner

I spent the day going to photograph an art piece of a house in the progress of being made from recycled newspapers. I then stopped by to get some photographs of Banksy's lastest work, again picking up on the recycling theme, showing children playing with a plastic bag.
It was then onto the Roundhouse to shoot Newton Faulkenr. Near perfect light for this one and I got some excellent, varied shots.