Charli XCX

I push open the hotel room door in anticipation. I walk down the narrow corridor into the bedroom. I am greeted by, a girl in her dressing gown and three ‘ladies in waiting’. I am on the first floor of the Phillipe Stark designed St Martin’s Lane Hotel in central London. Todays shoot is for New York’s Paper Magazine and I’m shooting the latest club sensation Charli XCX. She is being made up by Yuka, the make-up artist, and is wearing a toweling dressing gown. The other two are Beth, the stylist, and her assistant Dee.

Beth has a rack of clothes the length of the San Andreas fault. We have enough amazing outfits to shoot an entire fashion story, but only a couple of hours to shoot it in, and at least one of those will be taken up with make-up! We also have a different room from the one I saw when I came for the recce, so I have to go downstairs to reception to see if we can swap. The charming reception staff equip me with the key to the original room that I saw, so now we have the use of two suites for the entire afternoon, sweet!

I head up to the sixth floor and start setting up my lights, I also drag the beds out of the way (no assistant on this shoot). The beds feel like they are built out of steel girders, and I nearly tear every muscle and sinew in my back in the process. After a not insubstantial time in make-up Charli shows up with the head of press from her label. She seems a little uncomfortable with her outfit so we decide to get her moving about to relax her, and start shooting. We get some great shots but I don’t think she was totally convinced by the look.

After a fairly dramatic change in outfit I decide to shoot Charli against the room’s green wall (this was what was missing from the downstairs location). We try some much more dramatic movement this time and get some really great shots. In fact we all agree on a shot that we love, and it seems like this ought to be the one for the article (in fact this is the one they chose, click here to see the online article).

Just for good measure we decide to squeeze in one more quick outfit change, and shot. Unfortunately, Charli has a car waiting downstairs so this turns into a mad dash to finish line, and we only get time for a few snaps.

All in all, apart from my crippled back, it feels like we had a great day, and got a real result of a shot!

Maia

I am reliably informed by their manager that Tom, Joe, Simon, and Will aka Maia, sci-fi folk band, have decided on a hat theme for their upcoming shoot. Unfortunately, when they arrive they don’t seem to be aware of their decision?! This means all my mad hat ideas get drop kicked into touch, and leaves me with a problem. I need to rustle up some new ideas fast, especially as the band turned up an hour late and need to leave early for a sound check! (Between my girlfriend, and all the bands I shoot I am seriously wondering why I bothered to put my clock back this winter. Everybody else seems to be working on GMT+1).

We take the mirror off the wall in the dining room so that we can shoot a white background. Then it all becomes apparent, no Mad Hatters, but we can shoot through the looking glass…

We follow this with a mint tea party in my dining room…

The boys then have to leave for their soundcheck in Kilburn, for which they are of course, already late…

The Devices

Val’s transit pulls up outside my flat, just as I look out of the window. She leaps out of the van and rings the doorbell, but it’s somebody else’s, and it’s in another block! She obviously has the knack of using devices, just not the right ones…

Once we have located each other I put my equipment in the back of her van, and then we head off to the location, to shoot The Devices. The location is a stylish warehouse conversion with lofty ceilings, and minimal furniture. The general idea for the shoot is cleaning (with devices). We get out the vacuum cleaners and start shooting.

Once Val has finished vacuuming the face off her drummer we turn our attention to the stairs, where she dons her rubber gloves.

Seeing as the stairs have been cleaned by the daily that afternoon this doesn’t take too long. Keen to keep cleaning, Val decides to make a beeline for the bathroom. The two of them leap into the bath (a feature of my shoots of late) and get busy. They both seem to spend most of the time trying to work out how to put on their rubber gloves.

Unable to find anything else to clean in the flat we decide to change the vibe. We step into the corridor and set up a chase scene.

All in all an entertaining evening of feather dusters, cleaning products, rubber gloves, and of course, photography!

Native Roses

It’s hard not forgive the Native Roses for turning up, almost two hours late, when they fall out of their beaten up old Volvo all smiles, and clutching their pet rabbit. We head into my flat for a cup of earl grey, and cage the wild beast. We cover the cage in a blanket to calm it’s frayed nerves after the stressful journey through the nether regions of south London, from Brighton. We then remove the mirror from the dinning room wall and start shooting a simple portrait of the band against the white background.

I throw a garland of (Crapitat) lights to the mix and let the band get creative. (I chose one of the more natural poses for the blog).

To disprove the theory of the ‘soap shy’ English I introduce the band to the bathroom. They all eagerly jump into the shower, together, and make themselves comfortable. This looks promising. Feeling left out the rabbit hops in the complete the combo. We shoot a couple of shots, without turning on any water, or using any soap (perhaps the rumours are true?!).

We break for lunch to demolish Jess’s favourite pizza. This pizza chain does not exist in Brighton. I can’t say they are missing much, although the garlic bread dipped in even more garlic butter was deliciously unhealthy!

After lunch we head outside for a change of scene. We decide to include the final member of the band in the shoot, the transport! The band all climb into the boot of the car and do their best to close the lid.

Then it’s my turn.

After this it’s time to go. The Native’s, and their bunny head off to various parts of the country to make the most of Saturday night, and I head off to my Dad’s birthday. All in all a fun day spent with a fun band.

Phantom Limb

I step out of the bright september sunshine into Yolanda’s welcoming arms. The boys are a little more circumspect with their greetings. This is Phantom Limb, a Bristol based band that I have come to photograph for the day. We walk up the stairs to the ‘Robot’ studio, which is appropriately full of robots (little toy ones). We have a quick chat about the ensuing day. Most of which revolves around where we can get the best sandwiches for lunch. Then we set off up Park St, avoiding the sunny side of the street, so that we stop bumping into, and chatting to, the entire population of Bristol, whom the band seem to know. Shooting starts outside St Georges Church and then we move onto a small bohemian bar at the top of Park St. Being a band, the first thing we do is order drinks. After this we set up the first shot.

We rattle through this shot at a fair pace and then move onto the next one. We shoot this in a small back room, where I get them all to fall back onto a bench, and onto one another. This is a decided failure. They all look squashed and uncomfortable and mostly have their eyes closed. In the end they all squeeze onto the bench and we start shooting. The room is almost completely dark so I can hardly see what I am shooting. I have to check my computer screen each time I take a shot until I get what I want. In the end I prefer the shots where they are standing up.

For the last shot we leave the bar (after another whiskey) and head up to the park. The whole of Bristol seems to be out drinking in the sun, and listening to their ‘ghetto blasters’. It is 27 degrees and bright evening sunshine so we go for a bit of 70′s style backlighting.

Matt has to leave so we finish the shoot here. I head back into town with the rest of the band. We have one last sandwich, and then Caro drops me back at Temple Meads for the return leg of my journey. All in all it was a great day spent with a lovely bunch of people. Listen out for their new album early next year.