In my career so far I have not entered that many competitions or magazine calls for entry, though I’ve always meant to, it’s either been through lack of organisation/time, high entry fees, or dismally sensing a mismatch between my work and the competition in question.

I have however just entered a competition called Picture the Difference. It is a competition with a relatively low entry fee which also gives half of the money to the charity ActionAid.

Being shortlisted depends on votes, so I’d really appreciate your votes on any of the 3 images I have submitted. I am aware that my work is so far quite different interpretation than the other entries visible in the pool, tableaux as opposed to ‘journalistic’, and more ‘ contrived’. This is my own interpretation of the specification of the competition which calls for all kinds of genre, and the 3 images I submitted are my reading of the theme ‘change’, all from my Ecology series.

The prize is a trip to Uganda and a subsequent exhibition and feature in a self-published book. Although the trip sounds like it beckons a certain genre of journalistic photography I think that if I were to win, I would enjoy showing children a creative approach to making images that involves using themselves and each other as their subjects – as well as being able to make my own creative images of them, and perhaps even myself, in the landscape.

Please vote for me at the following 3 picture links, note that you can vote more than once – every few minutes in fact but I’d appreciate at least just one from you! Thank you.

Heatstroke: http://www.picturethedifference.co.uk/photo/361/

Moored: http://www.picturethedifference.co.uk/photo/362/

Moult: http://www.picturethedifference.co.uk/photo/363/

By no means has it been an easy year, or a year where I’ve got everything I want.

This year has been more about making things happen in the face of not being able to get quite what I want, and learning slowly about what my goals actually are.

Above: my favourites of my images from 2011 whittled down to 9 – click to view larger (or to see them uncropped and whole, you can go to my newly designed website).

I’ve shot a large volume of work compared to other years (including over 30 models, thanks to the events), gained experience in new situations, engineered a new kind of exciting event, co-hosted a workshop production in a dream location, released a book and written my second, but most importantly, I have gained a clearer sense of direction than ever regarding where I want to go.

This year I’ve been working in two main series: Ecology and Surreal Fashion. Between them, I can cover most of what I currently want to express. They are quite different: Ecology uses stark nudes and landscapes, dystopian moods and ambiguous, environmentally-linked messages. It’s where my self-portraiture work has led to, though it’s not all self-portraiture. Surreal Fashion is my first substantial series featuring other (fashion) models, that has grown around an aesthetic that combines photos with other media, with more of an attempt at a conceptual core than most typical ‘fashion’ photography.

On the events side

This year I’ve done some teaching-based workshops in London, Scotland – and LA, right at the start of the year. I’ve also co-hosted a workshop for Phase One (further below). But what has epitomised this year has been our new event, what ‘we’ (that is, myself and Matthew my husband-to-be) have come to entitle the Fashion Shoot Experience.

It was a conception of two desires: 1) to transcend the typical ‘workshop’ and the limitations and contradictions it poses, as to what a photog/aspiring photog can truly take away other than some force-fed techniques and an illusion that the ‘art’ in photography can at all be ‘taught’. Maybe that is because I’m overall valuing being an ‘artist’ more than just a ‘photographer’. And 2) I wanted to put together a fashion shoot, instead of waiting around for a commission, but to make it happen myself. But the sentiment is not just “the only way to learn is to do it”, but “images get made whilst you are ‘learning’ – whilst you just do it“. Both myself, and all the participating photographers (who are everyone from students to seasoned pros) are on a ‘learning’, ‘doing’, and just ‘being’ experience together, making greater use of a great location that the typical workshop could.

The positive feedback from other photographers on the events has really made me proud of the event we have put out there. I really feel like I been able to facilitate a meaningful and fruitful experience for other people. And its growth is marked by going stateside: in 2012, one year after its launch in London, we’re taking it to New York.

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Books

Feels to me like it was ages ago, but it was only this year my book Self-Portrait Photography came out in the UK in Feb (Ilex) and in the US in March (Pixiq), which has sold 24,000 copies worldwide to date and is going into second print run. I’ve also been writing my second book this year, which comes out in the spring, Creative Portrait Photography. Writing these books is one of the best, if not the best, work I’ve enjoyed so far in my photography. There’s an inevitable commercialisation and level of compromise involved in the final product, but I love the freedom I get in putting them together, and I value the growth I gain in every book I write.

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Shooting at Weston Park

The PODAS Phase One workshop has got to be one of the best things for me about 2011 (see blog post with video). Getting to sleep over and shoot a workshop and eat great food – and even play dress up before the models arrived – in the most wonderful stately home, and be paid for it – wow – I was very lucky. There, I made what I think is my favourite image of the year overall, Storm Door (below).

And the important ‘OTHER’

This has also been a strong year for self-development. Particularly in the last couple of months, I have really solidified my sense of self and direction in life. Prioritising healthy eating and fitness above absolutely everything else, including photography. I’ve drastically addressed stress: the importance of getting headspace from perpetual computer use and the constant ‘I could be doing more’ mentality. I am so happy to be doing what I do for a living, but now I realise, for one reason much bigger than any other: the fact that I can organise my life around the priority of health, in body and spirit, which includes regular exercise, rest and rebuilding a connection with nature, in antagonism to much of the modern lifestyle that befalls most of us. Moreover, my intended direction(s) with my art have been in mental tumult over the last few months, finally landing on the one thing I want to do with my art: to question, and to seek truth.

Where 2011 has brought me

It was only a short while ago that this end-of-year post would have said something along the lines of: in 2012 I want to break into commercial work, grow my name, expand, in essence just get bigger, better, richer, greater, work and whip myself harder than ever, blah & etcetera. I’m questioning everything about that outlook. I still crave ways to use my work in other (commercial) avenues, but the right ones. This year, I have already felt this change coming, manifested in my Ecology series which has been somewhat a test run for me, for how matters of environmental concern meet ‘art for art’s sake’. I wrote a blog post about it earlier in the year where I professed to the series’ softcore quality and that “it’s not the place of my art here to tell people how to make the world a better place.” However, although I still crave subtlety, I now want to invoke deeper thinking, to actively engage my audience. I do want to make the world a better place, because it is possible.

I realise more about who I am as an ‘artist’. I’ve battled with feelings of dissatisfaction about my direction, feeling that a lack of commercial work meant I am less of a photographer. Maybe in a way, but not less of an artist. I now see what my work is: it is my dog by my heel, whom I want to stay true to me, close to my side. I see that my dream is to always be able to be myself, to channel every profound thing I feel, but not just for me. In that respect, as I grow in knowledge and awareness all the time (as well as passion and altruism) the art does too! I want to turn up the volume button, by increasing my work’s power and also its channels of expression; by using words, and by sharing more than just pictures that compel one to simply look and enjoy. There are too many issues around us to ignore, and too many layers to those problems than is typically regarded by the mainstream media. The kind of ‘issues’ I am referring to will become clearer later.

It is quite astounding to consider the potential power of a photographer who chooses to value truth over money, message over self-lording. What if my pictures can help expose truth, shift attitudes in one person and then another, and bit by bit make a difference to this world? That notion is just too exciting. I’m starting to even wonder, what is the point of art if it does not make a statement, to try make a difference? I want my art to have other purposes beyond our typical notions of ’success’, and I realise I’m going against some people’s advice when I say that. I’m interested in how this new perspective will change things. I know for a fact it will make me happier.

Above: Heatstroke (my favourite from Ecology this year)

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Some inspirations this year…

Here’s some references of things I’ve noted inspiration from in 2011: this picture ‘Mr Vet’ by Milosz Wozaczynski, pictures like this by Susannah Benjamin, and pictures like this by Chiara Fersini, and even illustrational Biblical stuff like this off Google Images, and weird animal hair pieces of Nagi Noda… also in a more general way by the following, in a random order: Tim Walker, Federico Erra, Rutger ten Broeke, Yulia Gorodinski, Martin Parr, Gregory Crewdson, Guy Bourdin, Noah Kalina, and Peter Kemp – as well as the other 4 contributors of my new book.

I also highly recommend this inspirational book Art & Fear, which has really helped me this year.

Cheers to a stimulating, enlightening 2012!

I was excited to watch the DVD, as I had seen the trailer. From the marketing it looked delicious and so tempting, I can only imagine the fervour of both young and seasoned ‘togs sticking this on their Xmas wishlists. I looked forward to watching a few hours’ worth of photography-related entertainment. After all, there aren’t many programmes on TV about photography, or at least beyond a simplistic layperson level!

I didn’t want to review it just from my point of view, but thought of questions that the potential buyer would want to ask: can it teach a beginner photographer anything? Can it teach an advanced photographer anything? Is it marketed correctly? Is it worth the money? ($250/$200 launch price).

I was aware most of my enjoyment came from seeing Joey and Lara behind the scenes. Being fairly familiar with their work, it was largely a pleasure of recognition and curiosity about their physical presence as photographers. The DVD is divided into parts, showing Lara and Joey each on a shoot as part of the four ‘challenges’, each with screen capture films showing them at work in RAW workflow and Photoshop.

The photography in this DVD is stunning. I am bored by 90% of photography out there but I was captivated by both Lara and Joey’s images throughout. Of course, you only have to go online to see their images, so it’s the content of the explanational material that is the object to review here.

The first shooting film, showing Joey shooting a rock star on a studio roof, is very comprehensive. Joey is careful to go into detail about every stage he went through (lenses, lighting, filters, techniques, forethought, contingencies… right through to how the lighting affected the clothing of the subject, and even where he bought the ‘cheap ass’ light fixture from). I really feel like I am in a direct conversation with him, having my questions answered. In the editing films, I like how both Lara and Joey show the other shots from a session beside the selected one – the rejected/sidelined shots – i.e. how they get to the ‘before’  and not just the typical ‘before and after’. This is something important that many other workshops/tutorials neglect! In some of the shoots though, there are gaps in the full information about everything that went into the shoot, a bit like seeing a dish being made, but not getting the full recipe. It’s still enjoyable to view.

I like that Lara speaks about other aspects as well as the photography itself; her input on styling for example, in choosing a model.  She is showing that there is more to photography than the f-stop, what you might consider the more ‘feminine’ pulse of photography. And I truly believe that the photography workshop industry lacks that in abundance, so to see a photographer like Lara in action makes me happy. But, this is a workshop DVD and it needs strong workshop material, so I would have liked Lara to address a few more technical topics to give a more complete picture.

To get something clear however, as a photographer myself, I am often not bothered about technical information and I am not saying that the crux of a photograph is the gear and settings used. It’s just that the DVD purports to tell you everything about the process, so I went into watching it believing that I would be shown everything. And with every photo that comes onscreen is a overview of its camera settings, so we are being told that they are integral to understanding the image. Some of the settings however are not explained, such as a mystifyingly high ISO and shutter speed on one of Lara’s images from the Shoot a Stranger challenge. During another of her shoots, she uses a constant/HMI light stating she wants a cool look, but has to obtain this later in Lightroom by changing the white balance drastically, going against her statement that non-destructive editing is important. So I wondered why she had not changed her white balance accordingly in the shooting. It really doesn’t matter – every photographer has quirks, makes mistakes, can fix things later – it is of little consequence! But it would be helpful if these things were mentioned, to avoid confusing the DVD viewer who wants to think and learn.

Lara refers to digital noise from a high ISO as flattering film camera ‘grain’, and that she wants ‘a nostalgic film feel across her images’ (in the way I understood this then, across all her work.) I was surprised to hear that, as noise really isn’t the same as grain, and I see Lara’s work as the opposite anyway: modern, professionally digital, unnoisy and clean-edged images, and there isn’t any visible noise in most her portfolio. I believe that in fact she only uses high ISO for some select shoots, not all, so it’s an example of a topic I did not feel fully enlightened on. Contrary to the description of the DVD, I felt there was a subtle, maybe even oblivious, insulating membrane in parts that prevents the viewer from truly getting the nuts and bolts of everything that goes into the photographers’ process. I don’t necessarily mean that they purposefully hold back tangible ’secrets’; just that they sometimes talk performatively rather than straight from the heart.

I liked the diversity in production value of the shoots: from the Pacific Ocean, to a street in India, to a deadly road in Bolivia, to a London studio. I think for a DVD marketing itself as a fashion/commercial workshop, it would be good to see a more ‘conventional’ fashion shoot somewhere in the series of films: something that shows shooting with a standard key, back and fill light. That is what I would have liked to learn more about. Because the shoots were all a bit quirky in their technique, it was a bit like having the icing without the cake… but a bit better – like a whole cake made out of icing. Perhaps, though, it is a covertly good thing that there are no ‘norms’ in this video, after all, photography is a bag of surprises, random encounters, thinking on your feet, and finding inspiration in unusual places.

For one of Joey’s shoots, he says to the camera that he has decided to shoot in an apartment because NYC studios are too expensive (admittedly ‘shooting last minute’ specifically for the DVD). Whilst the shoot worked just fine in the apartment, and is a great example to other photographers on practical ways to save money, part of me was curious that surely his shoot deserved the cost of studio hire for a DVD that will be sold. But then, he does say he seldom hires studios. Also, when Lara turns up to her London studio for the birthday-themed shoot to find just a ring flash and a HMI light, I wondered upon the somewhat strange situation that as a professional photographer (on a DVD teaching others how to be professional photographers), that she had not checked the studio’s lighting beforehand, or brought her own gear.  However, these are young photographers: fresh, rebellious and with work ten times more interesting than a lot of older, more experienced photographers that do things by-the-book. It is of personal opinion to each viewer as to whether that qualifies them to make and sell a workshop DVD.

I couldn’t help feeling that many illustrative shots could have been edited down (such as Joey’s translator shown speaking Spanish for 20 seconds, or wide views of set-ups shown for longer than we need), as well as the time devoted to Lara’s long anecdotes and also Joey’s non-photography-related jesting in front of the camera, which struck me as a little self-indulgent; it may be enjoyable, but my mind kept going back to the person who pays $200 or $250 to watch what seems more like a documentary than a workshop. I found myself saying ‘ok now let’s see some photography’, or ‘nice, so show me what the shots look like!’ a few times.

I enjoyed Joey’s India shoot; the set-up was described well, and I enjoyed the ambience of the footage (glad no music was put over those shots), I almost felt like I was there. I also liked seeing Lara approach strangers to shoot in the streets of New York, that part made me feel as if I was watching an objective TV programme where the photographer was making a real effort to step outside their comfort zone.

A difference I noticed between Joey and Lara’s footage was the quality of camera work. Lara’s was all shot with a manual focus (most likely a 5DMkII), which meant that the shots kept going blurry and was quite distracting. The editing also left in a lot of unnecessarily long shots on Lara in action, like cutaways trying to become real meat. We see her close-up at work, directing the model but we don’t see their reaction, so we can’t make narrative sense of what’s going on, and the footage becomes merely decorative, to say ‘this is a fashion photographer, and this is the model’.

This all made me reflect on the disadvantages of watching a film not edited by an objective eye, and not ‘professional’ in the strictest sense, but I also reminded myself that today we see so much more than TV would typically sanction, and this DVD is an example of photographers autonomously creating something that would not have had the means to do only a decade ago.

Probably my main critical observation was lack of discussion of inspirations. Photographers don’t exist in a vacuum. Work doesn’t birth itself on another planet free from all external influence. All artists’ work is a collective flow of ideas: like water running its rivulets into the work of each single artist in existence; the water can’t collect in a self-contained pool and say ‘this is it, this is where it begins’. To gain more of a credible glance at their processes, I wanted to hear about what influences went into the outcome of each of Lara and Joey’s shoots, and what inspires them generally. The complete absence of this conflicted with their expectation that their own work on the DVD will inspire others.

So, in answer to my questions:

Can it teach a beginner photographer anything? –Yes, although some beginners might find themselves out of their depth if they expect explanation of the extreme basics: it’s story-led, with a cocktail of all kinds of interesting things coming together at once.

Can it teach an advanced photographer anything? – Though I felt more excited to watch Lara’s videos, I feel I got more directly useful bits of info from Joey. But good photographers’ work can seldom be translated into easy-to-digest nuggets on technique to be swallowed up by the viewer. Whilst Joey can tell us about ND filters and his homemade modifiers, Lara just takes really great pictures, with simple uncomplicated methods: well-composed, well-styled and very well selected in the edit process. There’s nothing much to ‘report on’ about her process, except for her excellent eye. And you can’t teach someone ‘the eye’ as much as you can’t teach a blind person to see. The truthful paradox is: the more experimental, ‘unique’ and interesting any photographer’s work is, the less it can be ‘taught’ to people at all.

It is marketed correctly? –Probably not quite, more documentary style for the LJ and JL fans, demonstrating their own idiosyncrasies. But using the semantics of ‘workshop’ and ‘learning’ in the packaging obviously sells better. A couple of hardcore technical bits (such as channelling the energy spent on the comical boxing ring animation, into dynamic lighting or composition breakdowns instead) may have weighted it more into the marketing’s favour, and so too a technique-based structure rather than a story-based structure (though I enjoy the latter more). I love the artistic DVD cover, the inventive concept of rivalry, and the colourful array of shooting situations – so much more interesting than bog-standard stuff of typical tradeshow ilk.

Is it worth the money? –Depends if, based on the above, you learn from it or not. It may not be as useful to someone who does not know LJ and JL’s work beforehand. It may be expensive for a DVD, but let’s not forget that physical workshops are invariably more expensive than this, and can have less effort or energy put into them.

The dates will be Sat 17th, Sun 18th – and – a third date added – Mon 19th March (both individual one-day events) to take place at a stunning mansion in Brooklyn.

The event is the same formula as our London events: 5 styled models, a big & great location, everything laid on from lighting to lunch.

The shoots will take place at a Historic Brownstone Brooklyn Mansion in Clinton Hill; one of the borough’s most culturally and architecturally interesting neighbourhoods and home to noted writers, artists and musicians. The house has been meticulously restored and decorated with a collection of beautiful vintage modern furnishings and museum-quality art. A previous guest described the location as “a gorgeous restored Brooklyn brownstone with airy modernist updates: it was one of the most beautiful houses I’ve ever been in. It was like living in an interior design magazine for a few days.” It is centrally located with access to mass transit and just minutes from Manhattan.

Because we’re using a brand new location, here are some pictures of the venue:

The Fashion Shoot Experience is not just any photography workshop. The event invites you to come shoot like a pro whether you are an amateur, semi-pro or professional photographer. It’s not a typical workshop where we hold your hand and show you what to do, instead, we lay on everything for you to think independently and creatively and to leave with potentially a whole new portfolio of images.

A total of 10 photographers take part. The group is divided into pairs, and each pair rotates around 5 set-ups each with a styled model, with some fixed set-ups and others ‘roaming’, using both flash and natural light. We try to steer away from paparazzi-style shooting and encourage independent thinking.  The focus is on everyone getting lots of diverse shots, having optimum opportunities to direct their own images and potentially leaving with a whole portfolio of new work, and full model release rights to all your images. A breakfast and lunch spread are both provided.

All participants also receive at least two editing movies from me afterwards, demonstrating her own approach to the entire process, offering inspiration and tips even after the shoot is over. The movies cover such topics as RAW workflow, retouching and compositing in Photoshop, and techniques such as HDR, panoramas and composites.

The cost for each photographer is $695 USD.

Please email contact@fashionshootexperience to arrange a place. Full payment terms and conditions are sent with your invoice before payment, or on request if you need to check them before considering a booking. A full itinerary and information is sent to each participant in February, followed by info on the models and the costumes closer to the event.

We’ve just made a gleaming new website all for the Fashion Shoot Experience:

www.fashionshootexperience.com

On the website are videos of each and every Fashion Shoot Experience we’ve done in London so far, there’s also an FAQ, a beautiful collection of testimonials, and a showcase of the work produced by photographers on our previous events.

We’re very excited about taking the Shoot Experience stateside!

There’s a new iPad magazine out by Ilex called ‘Photographer’s I’ which is “a revolutionary departure in the world of photography magazines”, and I have found to be a delight. If you have one of those superfluous Apple/Android tablet thingies like me, and you’re into photography, then you have to see it.

I have a feature in there that covers the making of my images ‘The Smothering’ and ‘Their Evening Banter’. It’s a ‘how-to’ kind of spread, but things are of course slightly different in this context: with a clickable moving picture style narrative, showing the process to production. It’s really rather nice.

There is also a short video I made exclusively for the magazine, showing the production of my image ‘Loopy Lupinus’ (below), a whimsical self-portrait-with-cat-with-help-from-Matthew I did earlier this year:

Buy the mag even just to see the awkward moments of trying to hold my cat in one position. Or even just to hear the pretty birdsong of spring and hefty shutter clicks of a Phase One body, both which I’m missing already.

Of course, the magazine is full of much more than just my article. It has numerous interactive features from a range of photographers, well worth the price. This pilot issue is going for a cheapo price of £1.50/$1.99, which is literally a steal.

Check it out.

One of those prints is one ne’er before carnated onto paper… one my favourites from this year, shot with a Phase One IQ180 at Weston Park, Storm Door.

So if you are going along, be sure to check out the display at Spectrum’s booth. There will also be The escape, an image I produced on my first trip stateside in 2008.

VISION 11 is hosted by British Journal of Photography, and runs on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th Nov in west London. Find out more on their website.

…when the landscape strips itself bare. (click the image to view larger),

Thought I would put together a montage of b/w nudes. Three are from last winter, and also one I produced the other day, Against the grain, bottom left.

B/w is not something I do generally do a lot. But when I have an image which leaves colour looking redundant, and that has a form better rendered with the charcoal tones of black and white and grey, it feels absolutely right. Adjusting each colour channel in Photoshop’s black and white adjustment tool truly brings a b/w image to life than just desaturating it in one click! The paleness of the flesh against the darkness of the ground becomes a whole more dramatic than its original reality. That said, I really also like the top left picture, Denuded, in colour (see it here). The others, not so much.

These were all shot with Matthew, with his suggestive input on each one in varying degrees. That’s not to say he was ‘the photographer’ but nor was I the completely independent self-portrait artist. I spot trees I like, I usually pick the framing, sometimes he will adjust the framing and I will prefer his, he helps me keep my feet and head in the frame, and overall the task of posing naked in the public countryside is made a lot more feasible. Then I proceed alone to pick through the pictures and decide on the outcome of the shoot, if any. He sometimes offer suggestions in the edit, or just a ‘bah’ or ‘yeah’ to either stall or encourage me.

I put these images together and they became a tapestry of cool supine flesh, all set in Kent countryside. I like the set because I feel they express my commitment to art, in both the practical implications of posing for the images, but also my intent to show them no matter how exhibitionist they might be construed, or how different they are from my usual colourful and surreal work.

Not everyone will like my attempts at monochrome and indeed a gallerist once told me to stick with colour. But one thing I have learned is to follow my own heart on individual images’ directions, experiment with what makes them feel right, even if that means the saleability in someone else’s eyes plummets.

There may just be a book to come from me in the future dedicated to nude photography. I want to shoot more models nude, including men, pregnant women… and so hopefully a future book will be a wonderful offering to a ‘genre’ I love.

To see more from the ECOLOGY series, both b/w and colour, go to the website.

Yesterday on twitter I felt the urge to tweet my reaction to seeing the latest Littlewoods TV advert. Kids on stage, instead of performing the Nativity play, sing a popstrel ode to capitalism, naming an array of branded gadgets, the audience full of proud smiling parents. The voiceover talks of interest free credit, like some tasteless sofa advert. I instantly searched it on YouTube so I could have another watch, seethe within my woolly trousers and even feel my eyes swell in sadness for our crap material society that places £ signs in the pupils of sprogs barely out of the uterus.

Then I saw the John Lewis advert, which tells the story of the boy who impatiently waits for Christmas, doing a variety of cute things to try make time go faster, so that when Christmas morning arrives he can finally present his crudely-wrapped present to his parents. As the story unfolded with delicate nostalgic charm, I knew 30 seconds in that I would be tweeting a follow-up to my last comment with ‘this one’s better’.

Advertising is an area that I am, as a photographer, trying hard to enter. I take a great interest in advertisements, even just to hate the ones I find tasteless and figure out what makes them tasteless. With this spontaneous advert comparison I made, I wanted to probe at exactly why I like one so much more than the other. They’re both major high street outlets, advertising themselves at a prime commercial time of year, using kids as their commodity, employing a pull on parents’ heartstrings and purse-strings. But whilst one epitomises exactly why advertising can feel so morally uncomfortable, one demonstrates exactly the kind of job I would love and be proud of.

Both adverts want to sell, but the John Lewis advert chooses a less brash way to do so. On face value it’s all a bit obvious: a less than groundbreaking story, mellow enjoyable soundtrack; there is snow, there is cuteness, all is well. But the orchestration of fine detail in the narrative condensed into 60 seconds is what makes this piece of advertising positively filmic (though it did cost a reputed £5m to make.)

The Littlewoods ad is full of many children, a mass of children, it is precisely the ‘mass market’, kids and families with no identities, personalised instead by products: MacBooks, D&G watches, HTC. The high value of these designer and luxury goods, that these young children eulogise over, seems so inappropriate. A whimsical £1700 laptop for Grandad seems so wasted especially if Mum had to borrow the money to buy it!

The John Lewis ad, however, does not place the products centre-stage. The products become peripheral and nameless gifts, anonymous wrapped packages visible fleetingly at the end. The ad has a significant advantage in that it has a narrative, it tells a story, that time-old way to captivate the viewer who wants to know what happens. We never even find out what is in the packages, because the focus is purely on the characters: the boy, along with wonderful details of the family (my personal favourite parts of this advert are where his wide-eyed baby sister stares wide-eyed and almost with melancholy at her older brother’s antics).

Whilst the John Lewis advert inclines towards the ghost of Christmas past, the Littlewoods advert pushes the evil spirit of Christmas future, a technocratic Christmas governed by high value goods that these kids expect on a plate – or a credit card. It is intertextual with the mod cons of current mainstream telly: the X Factor-esque rap scene, the vibe of High School Musical, and the fad of vacuous self-celebration, the culture of ‘all I want in this world is to be rich and famous.’ Emphasis is on the value of the presents, not on relationships. ‘My mother’s wicked!’ may just have a double meaning.

You’re more likely to be humming the song from the Littlewoods advert afterwards, and being eye and ear-catching is certainly a goal of advertisers. But the John Lewis ad has not even any spoken words, relying solely on its visual story. It has a markedly traditional look as if we’ve gone back about a decade; its use of slight desaturation, thick snow, woolly hats, and the appeal of a family’s peaceful and lonesome lead-up to Christmas, as if they’re the only family in the world (a reason why I personally like it more than the cacophonous creche in the Littlewoods advert that screams ‘one born every minute’). Also I noticed how the children are shown in contexts with adults, eating at the table, painting, going off to bed without a word. It sells idealism, of kids in their place, seen and not heard. It sells the Christmas spirit of giving, not receiving (even if that’s somewhat hackneyed).

The kids in the Littlewoods advert may appear to be singing about giving, but as the voiceover says, it’s about getting them ‘the things they really want this Christmas’. All they truly paint is an image of a generic parent (not sure why it’s the mother who’s got the job of buying the whole family presents) who has finally got time to sit down after draining the bank balance on the war-torn edge of pester-power.

What I think is that the John Lewis ad takes on an anti-modern tactic, whereby it reminds parents of their own memories of Christmas as a child. The Littlewoods ad is aimed at children, like a man in the street with a lollipop trying to entice a child while keeping one eye on the child’s parent, knowing he needs the child to go and grab the reluctant parent’s purse. The John Lewis ad, however, is aimed directly at the parents, directly at the ones holding the purse. They will recognise the Smiths cover and enjoy the idealistic representation of the family, maybe even be reminded of why they wanted children in the first place. For that reasons it’s what I think will make it more successful as an advert campaign (not just the fact that is cost a bomb to make, but the Littlewoods one doesn’t exactly look low-budget either). It puts story, emotion and tradition first, and sells more than gear, and I think that’s much more important for a brand in the long term.

Also, check out this behind the scenes of making the John Lewis ad:

Here’s the video from our latest Fashion Shoot Experience that took place on 22nd October at the Roost in London.

We had ten photographers in total on the shoot, from around the UK and Europe, shooting all day in pairs on rotation with each of the 5 models. We had beautiful dresses from designer Louise O’Mahoney and funky outfits from Ryan Anton Reid, styled and creatively directed again by Pash Mistry of StyleCreative, with superb styling from a team of 4 make-up and hair artists.

It was surprisingly sunny for a day in late October! My favourite shoot of the day was with Olla with magnificent rays of natural window light and part of a bush trapped in the window (see footage & pictures of this in the video above). I also did some surreal stuff with adding bits of murals to portraits and playing with paintings, which you can also see in the video.

As usual I multi-tasked: introducing the shoot at the start, checking in on everyone throughout the day, shooting behind the scenes stills and video, helping to get the food out at lunch time (as well as help eating it) and also trying to shoot my own images in each set-up with every model! Matthew is even more of a workhorse though, assigning the shooting areas, assisting everyone and running round non-stop. We had 3 assistants on board: Jeff Boudreau, Hannah Coates, and Ed Weaver-Coles, so big thanks to them for helping out.

Below are some more of my images from the day.

We’d just got a whole new stack of lighting equipment to add to our arsenal, including more light heads, two beauty dishes and also a HMI light (a constant daylight balanced light). We got some amazing results with the HMI light in the dark basement of the house (see below for an example). On our next event we’ll be blacking out part of the venue to be able to utilise the HMI light  for dramatic effects.

From Nick Tucker (view on flickr)

View more of the photographers’ images from the event in the dedicated flickr group

Here’s a testimonial from Yomi Aderugbo, who attended our latest event:

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“When I first read up on your Experience day I knew it this was an event I was desperate to get onto. When I finally did come on the day… the day did not disappoint! It lived up to and met all my expectations; I thought the location was great, the variety of models fantastic, Matt was hugely supportive and the whole day was very well structured.

“As someone who is at the infancy of his photographic education, the experience was wholly relevant, enjoyable and moreover, I learnt more in one day than I did in a whole year attending a various workshops. If I had to quibble about something, it would be that the day ended too quickly!”

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What’s next for the Fashion Shoot Experience? A dedicated website to come, more events in London and also NYC in 2012, plus we’re planning a bigger than usual event in the spring of 2012 to take place in an extraordinary UK location (more info later!)

We had demand for another Fashion Shoot Experience in London before Christmas, so we’ve arranged our next to take place at Dalston Heights on Saturday 26th November (more details here). We have only one place left! If you want to join us, email contact@missaniela.com

We’re also taking the Fashion Shoot Experience to New York in March 2012! Dates to be confirmed soon. If you’re interested, and to be the first to hear of the dates, just drop me an email.

Read more testimonials to discover why this could be the best non-workshop ‘workshop’ you ever attend! (To keep up to date, you can follow my Facebook and Twitter.)

‘Deliverance’

An unexpected one – which goes without saying for most of my images – but particularly ‘unexpected’ as I didn’t set out to do a happy dynamic ‘multiplicity’-type picture, as a result it doesn’t fit anywhere in my current series but I just went with the flow.

Whilst working in the evenings I always glance across at sunset over the house and feel agitated that I’m not shooting something with the red and orange brooding sky. Tuesday evening I forced myself out into the garden with some fabric from a shoot I did aeons ago and Matthew set up a simple speedlight with shoot-through brolly and I started spinning round, inspired by thoughts of human strength and fitness.

See it on flickr here

Couple more images from the evening…