Back in February I had the honour of meeting and photographing the Baroness Lola Young at the House of Lords for a WI Life profile feature.
I must confess I didn’t know too much about her beforehand, other than the little acquired from a quick google search the day before. Luckily I found that it didn’t matter because we were greeted with a charming, open, interesting lady who was fascinating to listen to. Unfortunately she was so fascinating that the interview overran quite considerably so I only had ten minutes to photograph her but she was great to work with and her charisma came through on film too.
I particularly like the shot with the painting of the old man in the background because I feel it’s a comment on how far society has come; allowing females into the realm of the House of Lords.
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A couple of weeks ago I had a very exciting shoot photographing the wonderful Neil Hannon at the Royal Opera House for this weeks Time Out.
Neil is part of this years Opera Shots which begins in a couple of weeks.
I must admit to approaching the shoot with a major bout of hero-worship as my brother and I used to listen to The Divine Comedy loads as we were growing up in the 90′s.
I also had a mixtape made for me by a former boyfriend at school which included ‘The Summerhouse‘, an anecdote which I rather embarrassingly decided to mention during the shoot. The implication of course being that the song outlived the relationship!
So I was a little nervous when I saw him strolling towards me but there was no need as I found him to be an utterly lovely man.
Not only was he was humorous and charismatic when I decided to finish the shoot downstairs in the Piazza, he didn’t hesitate to pick up my case and help me downstairs with it. I must also note that the classical editor from Time Out Jonathan and Laura from the Opera House were equally helpful at this point.
So the shoot ended with my hero-worship even more in tact!
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One of the most enjoyable things about working for the Transmitter magazine is meeting interesting people who live and work in my local community.
I love the prospect of passing strangers gradually becoming people with whom you can share a wave and a hello, and one particular person I look forward to seeing around the triangle again is Phil Earle.
We met after he had trekked back from a long day working in Birmingham and I’m pretty sure having his picture taken was the last thing he wanted to do, however he greeted me with a beaming smile and we instantly hit it off.
I found Phil to be a really lovely guy and although I am probably a bit old to be his target audience (only marginally of course…!), by all accounts he is also a tremendously talented teen fiction writer.
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Lloyd Shepherd is a local author I have recently photographed for the latest issue of the Transmitter.
Because I live in a top floor flat, I am unable to keep pets so I absolutely love it when I turn up at a house and there is a bundle of fur wrapped energy to greet me. I couldn’t resist getting a bit of animal action in the shoot and Lloyd very patiently humoured me trying to get his dog to comply with what I wanted for the shot.
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Last week I had a great shoot photographing Jim Bob an author and former member of 90′s band Carter USM.
As I entered his home I was greeted with a softly spoken, stylish man. Dressed in a slimline khaki green suit with tie and DM boots, he was every bit the rock star and I really wished I had worn something a little smarter.
His house suited him completely; understated yet full of great artefacts. There was so much to look at and lovely, bold colours on the walls. Essentially a photographers dream.
Jim was great too. Although softly spoken, he wasn’t self conscious about posing and I found him an altogether calming presence.
Jim is promoting his latest novel ‘Driving Jarvis Ham’ with a tour which starts on May 10th.
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For this weeks Time Out London I had the absolute pleasure of photographing a real life rock star. I was really excited yet a little nervous to meet him.
A habit I have of googling people before I shoot them unearthed a stirring trepidation as a lot has been written about this man, not all of it completely positive.
However, when he turned up, apologetic that the interview had overrun, I instantly felt at ease. He was a real dream to photograph. He just gets it. I guess image is a big thing for him, but he made it so easy for me. I would click the shutter and he would move into another great pose, click, move but then when I asked him to try things out he would do that too.
He was quiet but magnetic and I left the shoot even more excited than when I began.
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Here is the tear sheet and a few outtakes from my recent shoot with Chris Goode. Chris was such a pleasure to work with. He is really witty and had no quarms with sprawling out over a cafeteria table for me. That is a great testament of character in my books.
His play God/Head is currently showing at the Ovalhouse theatre for the next couple of weeks. I witnessed part of a rehearsal whilst I was there and it looked really compelling so go and watch it if you can.

El Mundo syndicated one of my pictures of the lovely Matteo Pericoli this weekend

For a recent magazine article I found myself trekking around the triangle at Crystal Palace to find some local film enthusiasts. It was a great way to meet and chat with people who you would only otherwise see in passing or whilst buying wares from their shops.

For a recent Time Out commission I was asked to visit the new Boxpark pop up mall in Shoreditch to photograph the Smiley Store. I am of course familiar with the smiley face symbol, however I didn’t envisage just how much smiley memorabilia you could buy in one shop! It was great and instantly lifts your spirits. The vibe of the store is so cool and fun to be in. The stereo is blasting, the colours are vibrant and the staff are so nice and helpful. I had the fortune of finding shop assistant Sophia working that day so roped her in to model her smiley wear for me. She was brilliant and really made the shots with her effortless cool.
I could have spent a fortune in there myself, and will definitely go back. If you need a little pick me up in this grey cold weather, head over to the Smiley Store.
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