FORMAT 17 – Initial thoughts on Derby’s Photo Festival
Today I went on a press tour of Derby’s FORMAT 17 photography festival. The theme – HABITAT – is complex and wide-ranging and has, I feel, been a little over-intellectualised, which I suppose is to be expected in the photo exhibition world, but it has at least led to a great variety of work […]
TCH gets some TLC!
I was commissioned by TC Harrison Ford at Pride Park in Derby to take some night shots of their dealership frontage for an advertisement in Derbyshire Life magazine. This was both a satisfying and frustrating night. Satisfying because I took the required shots. A fairly clear night brought me a deep blue sky and I was delighted with […]
When She Was 84: My photos of the Queen
As the Queen marks her 90th birthday, I am reflecting on the time when, as the official photographer for the Derby Cathedral Quarter, I was commissioned to shoot the Queen’s visit to Derby Cathedral for the Royal Maundy. This is the annual tradition whereby the reigning monarch gives a purse of money to the elderly […]
Derby Silk Mill – What If? Machine
With my projected photo book of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site in mind, I spent an enjoyable Saturday afternoon photographing at Derby’s Silk Mill as six teams combined in the 2016 What If? Machine project. Running since 2012, What If? sees the design, build and operation of a Goldberg / Heath Robinson ‘chain […]
Derby Feste 2015
I photographed Derby Feste 2015 – and realised what I had been missing out on through not having photographed it before (I’m a busy guy, ok?). As it turned out, I couldn’t have photographed it at a better time for my book on the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site as weather conditions were perfect […]
Derby Silk Mill wins the Lottery
I have a major photo book coming out in the summer of 2016, depicting the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, which yesterday received a fantastic boost: Heritage Lottery funding of £9.38m for the Derby Silk Mill ‘Museum of Making’ project. Even more amazing, the full project costs are predicted to be £16.4m, £4m of […]
Meeting Paul Cummins Poppy Artist
An enjoyable and rewarding commission this week: photographing the opening of the Royal British Legion’s Advice & Information Centre in Derby. What made it so memorable and poignant was that the centre was opened by Paul Cummins, the artist behind arguably the greatest cultural event of this century: the ceramic poppies at the Tower of […]
Hurrah for Danny Baker
I wish I had had Danny Baker’s balls 12 years ago when the BBC axed me, though if I had gone on a three-hour rant on air, the consequences would have been devastating. I was a Radio Derby employee who, like Danny, suffered at the hands of ‘pin-headed weasel management.’ 13 years ago, I won […]