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    Thursday 30 October 2008

    Seu Jorge Plays The Roundhouse

    Like the Vampire Weekend gig recently this was a real pleasure to shoot and I enjoyed hanging around to watch the whole gig as Seu Jorge got the crowd dancing along to his Brazilian rhythms and tunes. I saw the concert stood right by footballer Deco of Chelsea and Portugal, who was there with his girlfriend.



    Guardian Online Usage

    Wednesday 29 October 2008

    James Bond 'Quantum Of Solace' World Premiere

    This was probably the biggest premiere of the year in London, with anticipation even eclipsing the Batman and Sex and the City screenings. James Bond of course needs no introductions, but the fact that this was a Royal world premiere with Princes William and Harry walking the red carpet for the first time added to the build up.
    The whole of Leicester Square was taken up by the premiere as a huge crowd gathered from early in the day.
    With all this in mind, outside of the cast there weren't really any huge names who turned up to attend the screening. I also had problems with my flash quantum battery, meaning by the end my flash was only firing in about one in four frames. This was particularly annoying as it was the Princes who were last to turn up. However, I got one good frame of the only time they looked up at photographers (below).
    Other than them, the main centre of attention was Bond himself, Daniel Craig, and the bond girls including Olga Kurylenko (seen below).





    Tuesday 28 October 2008

    Easy Virtue Premiere

    This was the final of the BFI London Film Festival premieres I was covering and it was all fairly straight forward. Jessica Biel was the main draw, but director Stephan Elliott bought along Fizz the dog, who apparently also stars in the film, and made sure the dog was given a lot of attention by kissing it in front of photographers.



    Monday 27 October 2008

    Pierre Lewis & 'The Brothers Bloom' Premiere

    This sunny Monday morning I went down to a cafe in Soho to get some shots of Pierre Lewis, an up-and-coming singer who's taken the dance chart by storm and model turned DJ, Lauren Pope, who's done a remix of one of Pierre's tracks.
    I spent an enjoyable hour or so over a coffee with them at Cafe Boheme, a great spot in the heart of Soho to get away from the madness of central London (it's even open till 3am if you fancy some decent late night food), before getting some candid shots of the two of them.




    Later that night it was back to Leicester Square for the premiere of 'The Brothers Bloom' as part of the BFI London Film Festival. Rachel Weisz was the star attraction.


    Saturday 25 October 2008

    Saturday Night Fever At The Roundhouse

    Catchy as it may be, spending a night watching a performance of The Bee Gees' soundtrack 'Saturday Night Fever' is not how I would normally choose to spend my Saturday night, but with several guest stars appearing throughout the hour and a half show I was asked to stick around and photograph the whole performance at the Roundhouse. The guests included The Bee Gees' Robin Gibb, Boyzone's Ronan Keating and Stephen Gateley, Sam Sparro, Sharleen Spiteri and Gabriella Cilmi and to be fair, although I'd never claim to be a fan of any of these artists, most of them put on a spirited performance.
    This was another of the BBC'S Electric Prom nights and just as I'd finally made it home from shooting and editing I turned on the TV to find the show being broadcast on the BBC. It seems there was no escaping The Bee Gees best-known songs tonight.




    Friday 24 October 2008

    Vampire Weekend Play The Forum

    I had great fun shooting this one. Vampire Weekend have, in my opinion, produced one of the albums of the year so it was great to hang around and watch them play it live having finished shooting them.
    Looking back at my shots arter a few pints I wasn't hugely impressed, but the Forum rarely produces well lit shows and having had such an enjoyable night I was happy enough not to be too critical of myself.



    Thursday 23 October 2008

    Bodyworlds, Trafalgar Square & The Streets

    The Bodyworlds exhibition, 'Body Worlds & The Mirror of Time' was both amazing to witness and photograph. The man behind it, Gunther von Hagens, is no stranger controversy but I found his latest and biggest exhibit, which shows the body living through time – at its most radiant and as it changes, grows, matures, peaks and finally wanes - compelling and totally different to anything I've seen before. To think these are real bodies takes some getting used to as they look more like wax works, but the show as a whole shows a lot - not just about how our bodies function and age, but also about life in general.






    Later that evening I had a busy schedule as firstly I clambered up in blustery and rainy conditions to the roof the National Gallery on Leicester Square to photograph an outdoor screening as part of the BFI London Film Festival.
    I was taken up to the roof by security man who'd come out of retirement to continue his 20-year career at the National Gallery. He was a real gentleman, but it took him an age to get me into position on the roof through a host of reasons (lift not working, picking up the wrong keys, rambling conversations), by which time I was already late for my next job of photographing The Streets at the Roundhouse. I'd have begun to lose my temper if he hadn't been so a kind, aimable guy. I quickly got the shots from the roof of the outdoor crowd braving the rain to watch 'High Treason' on the huge screen before rushing back down to get more shots from ground level.




    I made it with absolutley no time to spare to The Streets headlining the second night of the Electric Proms, so barely had time to set up my camera before Mike Skinner and his boys hit the stage. I still got some good results. Sometimes I think it's an advantage to have to start shooting with no preparation or thought about how you're going to photograph a subject. You just react to the situation and shoot from instinct.



    Wednesday 22 October 2008

    Burt Bacharach Plays The Roundhouse

    Burt Bacharach's performance at the Roundhouse marked the start of this year's BBC Electric Proms, an event which over 5 days draws a host of top artists to play across Camden's music venues. The idea is to make the concert a different to your typical gig and as a result the performances at the Roundhouse tend to be accompanied by a live orchestra, as was the case tonight. Also heavy on the agenda is guest appearances and Bacharach's concert saw songs sang by Jamie Cullum, Beth Rowley and Adele (all below).
    Bacharach was in tremendous form for a man in his 80s; conducting the BBC orchestra, playing his piano and encouraging his guest singers as songs throughout his six-decade career were played. The setting and feel to the night made it special, not least because we were all witnessing most of the most successful and prolific songwriters ever.
    It was also great to photograph Cullum, and old school friend, who, up until now, had always missed out on covering.





    Tuesday 21 October 2008

    Tony Curtis Book Signing & Nokia Party

    I began the today photographing Hollywood legend Tony Curtis, who was doing a book signing at Harrods. Curtis looked old and frail, understandable for a man well in his 80s, but still seemed to have a good sense of humor about him



    Later that night I popped down to Bloomsbury Ballroom for a Nokia party. Plenty of guests arrived, including Martine McCutcheon and model Keeley Hazell (below), but the main name on the guest list was Paris Hilton. The PR assured us she'd be arriving, so we hung around as the party drew out, only to get regular messages saying she'd been held up. Three hours passed before the PR conceded she'd rang to say she couldn't make it. What a wasted evening. I can't stand Paris anyway and it really grated that I'd hung around for someone I have no appreciation for. Undoubtedly one of the downsides to my job is having to photograph celebs, who have little or no talent and who masquerade around as if they're some incredible person, because they're likely to fill magazine pages and newspapers pages.


    Monday 20 October 2008

    Kaiser Chiefs Play The Forum

    I talk a lot about light when I speak of live music photography - where flash is rarely permitted - and it has to be said, given it was a major band this was probably the worst light I've ever had to shoot a gig. It was terrible, with barely any light on lead singer Ricky Wilson. When there was it was a harsh red or blue light, where there's nothing that can be done to alter it - even in Photoshop. The result was a set of photos which will never be used. A shame because, as the two photos below show, there are nice photos to be had from such an energetic band.


    Friday 17 October 2008

    Franklyn Gala Sceening

    Having missed the opening gala of the BFI London Film Festival to cover the MOBOs last night I went along for red carpet arrivals of 'Frankyln', the first major gala screening of the festival.
    The films stars Eva Green and Ryan Phillippe and kick starts two weeks of film premieres, which will bring A-listers such as Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow to the red carpet, before the big one, the James Bond premiere in a couple of weeks.



    Thursday 16 October 2008

    The Sun Usage

    My photo of Colin Powell dancing on stage at the Africa Rising concert was today used in The Sun.

    MOBO Awards

    I got a late call today asking if I could cover both arrivals and inside coverage of the winners with their awards for this year's MOBO Awards.
    It was all fairly straight forward as I was the only photographer shooting the artists at the winner's boards. Estelle (top photo) scooped two awards and other notable attendees included Mel B, Billy Ocean, Grace Jones and John Legend.