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Ready for Anything!
1. The Advertising shot The Background This job came about as the result of a portfolio meeting which I set up with the director of a regional advertising agency some 6 months previously. I was surprised to be asked because no other commissions had come my way from this source during that time - unless they seize upon you immediately professional instinct tells you that a) they've not got much work on, b) they're not that impressed, or c) the advertising world is just not ready for your breathtaking creativity yet (the survival of my shattered ego demands that I put a positive spin on even the most blatant rejections!). Despite the Directors' assertions that "We were just waiting for the right job to come up" it was pretty clear that his no.1 choice for the job was either ill, absent, or outside budget, so I was the next in line. Only trouble was, the shot had to be done and dusted in 2 days time to meet a very tight print deadline. Naturally, I wanted to give a good account of myself so that further work would come from them if my work was well received.
The Brief This is best described by the blurry, black & white rough visual which was faxed to me and shows a hand holding the neck of a distilling jar - the kind of glass beaker we'd use in school chemistry lessons, heating some noxious substance over a Bunsen burner. The message behind the image was that this publication "distills" all the important housing market information (trends, research, statistics and so on) into one "easy to read monthly journal". Just to make the point even more clearly, the eventual page design would make it appear that the globe-like glass beaker actually contained these wonderful facts and figures with a bit of digital trickery to make the text appear to be inside the beaker. I was to supply a choice of 6 colour, medium format transparencies featuring a male hand (not too butch, not too 'soft') lightly holding the glass beaker half-full with a liquid, by its neck in a realistic pose, on a yellow background. "Easy" I thought.
I submitted well over the required number of transparencies
asked for as I though it best to play this one safe, and once the 2-hour
E6 process at my local lab was complete, they couriered the results over
to the agency and the job was approved. I got the job to the agency a
day early so the agency was pleased to be able to pass onto their client
a certain calm confidence which all businesses look for in their choice
of agency representation. I was pleased to see that they eventually used
what I thought was the best hand shot in the final advertisement. I've
included some of the flops in this feature which show how poor positioning
on even as simple a shot as this one actually made the hand look like
some mangled chicken fillet - not exactly what the client had in mind.
2. The Location portrait The Background A local arts magazine had previously given me some good coverage on an exhibition I had put on. They were in the process of getting their next issue ready but required a black & white portrait of a local artist who had been commissioned to create some historical figures in costume for a museum display. The magazine had a very interesting profile on this artist as he had had a very successful career in London, working with some top bands on tour, and had recently decided to move up to the area to teach as well as practice as an artist. For a regional arts magazine, this made a very interesting feature. The magazines editor had given me the time and place to meet him and this was arranged during the previous week. The job was actually done a day after I despatched the hand-holding-glass beaker shot, so for this commission at least, I knew it was coming up and was prepared for it - even though I was told I would only get a half-hour with him as he raced back to his home-based workshop between appointments. The Brief Simply 3 black & white 10"x8" prints of the artist in his own environment taken on 35mm The Results Things did not go according to plan. Despite my arrival at his house in good time he was 20 minutes late (as is so often the case with busy creative types) and I was beginning to sweat in the car. Eventually he appears - easy charm and good manners personified - but explains that he only has 5 minutes and "couldn't we just grab a quick shot in my kitchen". In these situations, quick thinking and adopting a blank expression which says "I can't hear you" is the only remedy - or perhaps the latter is actually the result of the former. My attitude is this. I am there in my professional capacity to take a set of pictures, not just any set of pictures but a set of GOOD pictures, or at least a set of pictures which will have some good ones in it and that is what I will do. That's it. End of story. Like a duck that seems calm on the surface but is frantically paddling-away unseen under the water, I cast around desperately for some ideas. I pulled out some half-finished mannequins from his shed and took a series of quick pictures of my subject in and amongst them. He was quite happy to be bossed-about since his mind was on other things and I knew our particular window of opportunity would last but a minute or two at most. To tell the truth, I can't remember much more after that. The adrenaline must've sapped my senses but allowed me to work on auto-pilot. I'm sure he grabbed his keys, bid me farewell, and that was that - I headed back to the car with 12 shots in the can.  As it turned out, one of my pictures in particular was especially pleasing considering the rush and anxiety involved in its production. As with the previous studio job, I've included in this feature some of the out-takes which I'm sure you'll agree show little very little in the way of compositional skill or artistic vision, but the one good'un was well received and reminded me of why I actually enjoy some of these grab-and-go jobs.
3. The Real McCoy! The Background The third job which I was asked to do was a real privilege. I feel lucky that my photography has taken me to some of the most beautiful parts of the world, and through photography I've met some of the most fascinating and inspiring people too. On this occasion my excitement was not confined to a place or a person but to a Picasso, to be precise. I've worked on several occasions for the local university - mainly handled through the universities Press and Publications department which tends to funnel all picture requests (if procedures are respected by the various schools) through their team of designers and editors. A knock-on benefit of this particularly rich seam of commissions has been the added bonus of odd jobs which pop up from time to time and on this occasion I was asked to photograph a Picasso for their archives, which had been lovingly restored and returned to the Sainsbury Centre art collection who had the original "Before" pictures. The curator had also asked me to photograph an ancient Japanese scroll (which would feature in a future exhibition) for their Forthcoming Events brochure.
The Brief To Photograph (according to the curators strict instructions) the returned Picasso in a variety of lighting set-ups in order to record as accurately as possible the colour, tones, contours, and details present within the original. Additionally, I was to take the same approach to the accurate recording of the Japanese scroll. Using 35mm and Medium Format cameras, transparencies and black & white 5" x 7" prints
The Results This was a completely different type of job - relying more on technical skills and ignoring any artistic skills. Knowledge of lighting and exposure were the key components here, the rest of it was straightforward framing and distance to the subject coupled with a nervous determination not to trip over the cables or destroy, Mr Bean-like, these priceless items. Accurate copying work always makes me nervous - although I'm confident of my technique there's just something that nags away at me - convincing me that this time I've really messed-up, used daylight film with tungsten light, or some such cock-up. Fortunately this wasn't the case and images of both pieces were accurately and faithfully recorded. During the photography session itself I was not allowed
to touch, or even breathe near the items (this made photographing close-up
details very difficult) for fear that such tiny invasions of gasses or
grease would do irreparable damage. The speed and timing of each shot
was strictly controlled by the curator who handled everything with white
gloves and with an almost religious deference. Even the lights were only
kept on for the minimum time possible to reduce as far as possible any
risk of fading or damage due to the heat or light.
I was however able to view the brush strokes of Picasso close-up and to see the genius of his marks on paper, and to view close-up the delicate and detailed work on the 12th century scroll. This was ample compensation for any lacking artistic component to what was effectively a technicians job of competence and knowledge rather than any photographers infusion of vision and artistry. So there it is - a mixed bag of jobs, all very different in their style and purpose, but all of them enjoyable in their own way. I have to say I'm not mad keen on showing the world my rejects but I feel it's important sometimes to view your successful shots in the context of the shoot in its entirety and to 'replay' or review your commissions carefully so that they mistakes or assumptions made can be avoided in future. Mistakes should always be seen for what they really are - merely temporary stumbling stones on the rocky path to true photographic enlightenment. Perhaps I spent too much time in front of that ancient Buddhist scroll.
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