Scottish photographer Dougie Wallace is internationally recognised for his long-term social documentary projects and a distinct direct style of expressive street photography.

On show for the first time at the Motel Collection Gallery, London from 25th August 2022, Wallace’s latest and on-going project, ‘Soho Unlocked’, which charts the re-emergence of life in the pubs, clubs, theatres and streets of one of London’s most diverse and culturally rich areas. A selection of works from the series will be going on display.

Soho has always been at the epicentre of the global zeitgeist. Its mix of edginess, sleaze and high class combined with its ability to constantly change creates a fascinating and fertile ground for social documentary. 'Soho Unlocked' captures a distinct new chapter in the history of London’s popular destination. It starts to unravel in July 2021, following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions on the entertainment and hospitality industries, Soho’s bread and butter. After receding from public spaces during lockdown, Londoners (with a notable lack of foreign tourists and weekend trippers) started to descend on Soho once again for events (delayed EURO 2020; festive holidays), mixing with Soho's regulars.

To accommodate socialising under new conditions, several streets were closed off to traffic. This activated the area like never before. Against the backdrop of social distancing rules in venues and streets patrolled by ‘covid marshals’, a new defiant spirit emerged. Raucous hysteria and freedom from constraints are on the menu. The atmosphere became reminiscent of Soho from the 1990s, which was conducive to the flourishing of underground subcultures and causes that would go on to have a huge mainstream influence.

Featured are theatre and bar staff; trendy media folk from post-production studios and private member’s clubs, which have replaced the many sex shops, hostess bars and adult cinemas. Girls in their designer heels and totes are rubbing shoulders with boys on their daredevil bikes or scooters. Small-time dealers are never far away, ready to oblige with colourful nitrous oxide balloons and refill canisters to fuel the desire for instant thrills. A vibrant LGBT+ community has thrived since the beginning of the 21st century. Although cross-generational, there is nevertheless a dominant feel that a new generation has arrived, challenging old hegemonies. If Soho is a precursor sign of our times, the future is rainbow: open-minded and inclusive.

Dougie Wallace is recognised internationally as one of the leading social documentary photographers. He has spent the last 10 years working on subjects as diverse as Premier Padmini taxi drivers of Mumbai to the hen dos of Blackpool, and the gentrification of London's East End. He has won numerous prestigious awards, and exhibited as a solo artist and in group shows worldwide. Wallace has also been featured in a wide range of professional and consumer media. This includes being the subject of the coveted BBC TV Documentary series, What Do Artists Do All Day. He has also published seven critically acclaimed books.

Dougie Wallace: ‘Soho Unlocked’ will be exhibited at

The Motel Collection Gallery from 25th August to 2nd October 2022.

The Motel Collection Arch, 406-408 Long Street

London, E2 8HG

The 2020 ‘Lockdown: Taking a positive view’ Youth Photography Awards’ on-line exhibition is now live at www.positiveview.org.uk/lockdown-exhibition

The UK-wide ‘Lockdown: Taking a positive view’ Youth Photography Awards’ 2020 was conceived by the Positive View Foundation as an emergency Covid-19 cultural arts event in partnership with The Royal Photographic Society, and is generously supported by The Arts Council.

“These young people have shown the power of photography to document their personal experiences of lockdown while, at the same time supporting their own well-being during a challenging time. Their images are powerful and insightful and add to our collective understanding of how society is responding to the pandemic. The RPS is proud to be working with Positive View to empower our next generation of photographers.” Evan Dawson, CEO, The Royal Photographic Society

Its aim is to enable young people aged 16-25 to document, record, and expose the issues they have had to contend with during the Coronavirus lockdown.

This is the UK's first high-profile photography prize exclusively focused on young people, many of whom have grown up in disadvantaged backgrounds. For the majority, participating in this unique competition has been the first time that they have discovered the power of photography as a means of expressing their hidden creative skills. Mental health has been and still is a huge issue for everyone, especially through these stressful times and it was felt that the power of photography was a good way for the young people to express themselves, or just to focus on a project to keep them busy through these trying times.

The awards’ overall success has been demonstrated by them receiving over 3,500 submissions – attracted through a UK social media campaign that received over 1,700,000 openings, and will now be an annual feature on the Photography Awards calendar.

Members of the judging panel are renowned UK photographers: Nadav Kander; Lucy Mohr; Simon Roberts; Richard Young; with Lucia Power, Awards Executive of the Positive View Foundation as the non-voting chair.

Between them they have chosen the winning three entries as well as the 10 Highly Commended images, all of which can be seen online at www.positiveview.org.uk/lockdown-exhibition.

BBC In Pictures

Shades of Color

Positive News

The Journal of The Royal Photographic Society

Commissioned by JCDecaux, sculptor Rona Smith has created Abeona, a major new 50ft cast bronze artwork in the heart of Paddington, inspired by the architecture of travel. The permanent sculpture was unveiled at a private ceremony on Monday 27th June 2022.

Rona Smith says, ‘Since public transport networks play such an integral role in our daily lives, I found inspiration for Abeona in the proximity to Paddington station. This commission was an opportunity to bring to life the complex infrastructure of rail travel and the pathways or ‘tracks’ that connect us in our work, communities, and relationships. As a Londoner, I frequently travel through incredible transport hubs intersecting thousands of lives and journeys. My intention is to reference not only the scale and history of these structures but also to draw attention to the physical human connection which they facilitate.’

The form of the sculpture is lifted directly from the artist’s line drawing of Paddington railway tracks receding to a vanishing point and it is the sketched, wavering pen on paper that gives the sculpture its organic quality. Rona explains, ‘The fluid nature of the line gives a personal and human feel to the industrial imagery and the sculpture peels away from the wall like a page from a sketch book.’

Abeona is named after the Roman goddess of outbound travel who protects travellers, particularly children, and ensures a safe passage. Rona says, ‘The sculpture plays with perspective, appearing to extend beyond the frame of the building and into the sky, giving a sense of taking off. The title Abeona evokes the beginning of epic journeys and reminds us of the thrill of a child’s first steps.’

Abeona’s kinetic lighting is inspired by the movement of trains shunting slowly into a station and casts shifting shadows across the sculpture. This gently fluctuating shadow play also suggests the careful movement of a pen across paper, reflecting the notion of the artwork as a three-dimensional drawing.

The railway imagery alludes to JCDecaux’s utilisation of travel hubs including bus stops, stations, and airports while offering an unmissable greeting to JCDecaux’s UK central London office. The fluid form of the sculpture complements the sharp simplicity of the architecture, its freeform quadrilaterals echoing the grid of windows in the adjacent wall. The sculpture sweeps away from the building and suspends in space, its foundations invisible. The work showcases impressive engineering allowing a lightness which is unexpected given the necessary robustness of such a structure.

Abeona is an ambitious work which was first imagined in 2017 and fabricated in 2020 against the backdrop of the pandemic. Commissioned by JCDecaux, this work was realised in collaboration with fabricator Pangolin Editions, engineers Ramboll and Jenkins Potter, and lighting designer Spiers Major.

Celebrating the unpredictability of life, the curation of the Magnum’s Square Print Sale explores the happy accidents and unusual turns of events that lead to memorable images.

From its earliest days, photography has been associated with the unexpected: documentation of under-explored issues, reporting of events unfurling in far-flung locations, or single frames capturing split seconds of levity.

Over more than seven decades, Magnum photographers have reported on and witnessed events around the world which changed societies, nations, and peoples in unpredictable ways. Stuart Franklin’s image of an unarmed man stepping in front of a tank during the 1989 government crackdown on student protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square was an “unexpected act of defiance”. Paul Fusco’s series of images taken from the moving train that bore RFK’s body across the United States created a candid portrait of that nation’s inhabitants at a moment in American history. The work also saw him experimenting with the practical limits of his photography. Raymond Depardon’s photograph of a youth sat astride the Berlin Wall on November 11, 1989 embodies the end of an historical era. Susan Meiselas, covering the 1979 Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, photographed Pablo ‘Bareta’ Arauz launching a molotov cocktail at a National Guard HQ. This image became an unexpected symbol of revolution, which resonated with a generation and has been reproduced on t-shirts, matchbooks, murals and magazines across the world.

Some images are in themselves surreal, toying with the machinery of the medium or manipulating light and framing to create surprising abstractions. In René Burri’s image, wilting lotus flowers mirrored in Beijing’s Kunming Lake become abstract black scrawls more reminiscent of charcoal on paper than of a photograph. Colby Deal’s image of a silhouette seen through an erratically spray-painted window confuses the viewer. Fellow 2020 nominee Yael Martinez chose an image from his project Firefly, in which he pricked photographs with a pin to allow dots of light to intervene upon the images. Werner Bischof’s cascading snail- shells recall the words of his famed tutor Hans Fisler: “Bischof’s endeavour is to isolate law and regularity from the apparent chaos of the accidental.” Cristina de Middel’s image — from her series The Afronauts — experiments with recreating a little known historical space program, utilizing costume and staging to flex the limits of what ‘documentary’ photography can be.

Sometimes life simply throws up scenes of incongruity that a fast acting photographer needs only to record: elephants marching in front of the Eiffel Tower, a serpentine procession of tractors, a lone cloud seemingly mirrored as it floats over a bleached outcrop, or an outrageous expression on the face of an elderly passerby. Martin Parr’s image made in Pyongyang toys with the typical portrayals of stony-faced North Korean soldiers by capturing a paternal moment as one carries a small child. Olivia Arthur’s print, depicting well-wrapped skiers about to descend a pristine slope, was created in the arid heat of Dubai.

The stories behind the making of images can present unexpected elements. Famed subjects can surprise those assigned to photograph them. Dennis Stock recalled that Audrey Hepburn was “indifferent to her (or anyone else’s) celebrity”. Eve Arnold’s portrait of Marilyn Monroe depicts a side of the superstar alien to most: pensive, withdrawn, and down to earth. For Thomas Hoepker, the surprising aspect of his portrait of Muhammad Ali was that it existed at all: this shot of the fighter’s left fist was re-discovered in 2015 as the photographer delved into a vast collection of negatives.

This collection of 90+ prints was available for one week only in this format. It represented the breadth and variety not only of the practices and outlooks within Magnum’s membership, but also of what photography can convey and capture.

www.magnumphotos.com/shop

Featured in The Guardian, AD - France, Vogue Italia, Le Monde, Wallpaper*, Pttl - Greece, Publico - Portugal, and AnOther among others.

The Association of Photographers (AOP) has announced the winners of this years AOP Awards 2020 via an online presentation.

Each year the AOP Awards celebrates the best in established and emerging photography talent, making the annual event one of the leading events in the creative calendar. Members of the AOP are eligible for the Photography categories, whereas non-members are eligible for the Open Categories.

As part of the changing aspect of photography, moving-image work was, for the first time, allowed in each category, rather than being singled out for their own award. Also new for 2020 was the Emerging Talent Award – this Award is a response to commissioners looking for new talent and it provides a platform allowing exposure to the creative industries. As this is a separate category it shines a light on the breath of new talent and helps create a network of photographers and commissioners alike.

“The past six months has been a pivotal moment for the AOP as we have provided much-needed and comprehensive support to the creative imaging community.

The warmth and positive feedback we have been receiving has made us more determined to amplify the work of those selected for this year’s AOP Awards to a wider global audience.

There was never a moment when we ever considered cancelling this year’s event. Instead we have given much thought to ways we can both achieve a celebration of excellence in image-making practice and ensuring as many people as possible get to experience this amazing work.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members, supporters, partners and especially those who entered. Whichever way you choose to experience the AOP Awards 2020, you can be guaranteed that it will be brimming with exceptionally brilliant and awe inspiring work.” Seamus McGibbon, AOP CEO

The annual physical exhibition at One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, has also been rescheduled for January 2021.

All the finalists’ work wis available to view at www.aopawards.com and will also be displayed in the lobby of One Canada Square next year (11 Jan – 26 Feb).

Since the inception of Canary Wharf’s cultural master plan, the arts have played an important role in the development and success of the 128-acre Estate. Canary Wharf has one of the UK’s largest collections of public art, with more than 70 permanent works by over 50 world-renowned artists.

BBC in Pictures, Arts & Collections, The Guardian, WIRED, F5

‘Humanity is now standing at a crossroads. We must decide which path we want to take.’ Greta Thunberg

In May 2020 1854 Media unveiled the two hundred shortlisted images for the year's Portrait of Humanity award. The images, taken before the world went into lockdown, provide a global representation of everything that makes us human, with photographers from thirty-six countries showcasing images taken around the globe.

The images were captured by photographers from all levels in various formats, and show arresting faces with touching anecdotes that remind us of our common struggles, our deep bonds and–perhaps most importantly in light of the COVID-19 crisis–the restorative power of community.

The one hundred winning images will be announced in September, when they are going on a global tour and will be shown internationally on Clear Channel digital screens. All shortlisted images will be shown in the Portrait of Humanity 2020 book, published by Hoxton Mini Press.

For the first time, 1854 Media also teamed up with Sent Into Space, a company that specialises in taking images of the Earth from edge of space. They will be launching a framed screen that will exhibit all shortlisted images 111,000 feet in the air. A 360 degree camera will be attached so the photographers will be able to see their work against the backdrop of our amazing planet.

The coverage for the shortlist was featured in over 100 articles in 31 different countries including The Guardian (UK), BBC News (Worldwide), CNN (USA), The Times (UK), The i (UK), Daily Mail Online (Australia), Big Issue (Australia), Marie Claire (Hungary), News Mail (Russia), and VNExpress (Vietnam).

This exhibition has been put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As soon as we have a new date for the exhibition it will be updated.

This April a series of images showing women who hold prominent positions within their faiths will be opening at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf.

April is traditionally the time for many religions to celebrate festivals, be this Easter, Ramadan, or Passover, and as part of this photographer Peter Kindersley will be showing a series of portraits he has taken over the past couple of years in the green backdrop of the Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf.

Each portrait focuses on a woman who is part of her religion and is a prominent figure, even if they are not necessarily the head of the faith.

“When I witnessed Libby Lane becoming the UK's first female bishop in 2015 with all the grand ordination at York Minister, it made me wonder how many other women were leaders of their faith within the UK,” says Kindersley. “As I began to research sitters to approach to take part in this project, I found religion still prioritised the male point of view and had not embraced feminism for change. Because of this, I decided to interpret what being a leader of faith meant and chose sitters appropriately.”

For each of the religions featured, Church of England, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hindu, Sikhism, Catholic, and Quaker, the photographer approached a notable female figure and asked them if they would be part of this series. Featured are Dame Judi Dench and Baroness Warsi, as well as Bishop Libby Lane who was the first woman to be ordained as a Bishop after the Synod voted in 2014 to allow women to become bishops.

“The final sitters in ‘Women of Faith’ may not all be the head of their religions, but their leadership qualities are demonstrated and shared by the way they inspire communities, followers, fans and worshippers to create a lasting impact on people’s lives and beliefs. It is my hope that regardless of people’s views on religion, this project will raise awareness and celebrate these inspiring, and influential women.”

The exhibition space is in the Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf which features large format boards placed amongst the foliage and offers a calm place in the busy surroundings.

Since the inception of Canary Wharf’s cultural masterplan, the arts have played an important role in the development and success of the 97-acre Estate. Canary Wharf has one of the UK’s largest collections of public art, with more than 70 permanent works by over 50 world-renowned artists and craftsmen.

Canary Wharf offers a world-class, year-round arts and events programme presenting over 200 diverse and culturally inspiring events and exhibitions throughout the Estate.

Exhibition Information - Women of Faith by Peter Kindersley

Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, E14

Exhibition opens – Wednesday 1st April

Private View – Tuesday 31st March – 6pm – 8pm

Exhibition closes – Monday 4th May

Free to attend

Open daily 7am – 9pm

About Peter Kindersely

Peter is a London based Filmmaker and Photographer who has created content for over 10 years across multiple print and social media platforms and has some of his photographs in the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern Collection. He is also a winner of Portrait of Britain Award 2019, with his iconic image of Bishop Libby Lane that is part of this exhibition.

Peter loves working with people and telling stories, either through a photograph, or as a short film, the media may vary between film and photography depending on the commission but it’s Peter's ability to see something in the subject and bring it to life that makes his portraits stand out. www.peterkindersley.com

About Canary Wharf Group

Canary Wharf Group (CWG) has overseen the largest urban regeneration project in Europe and is a fully integrated private real estate company that develops, manages and currently owns approximately 8.5 million square feet of office space, 1 million square feet of retail and 327 Build to Rent units. The company’s current £3.8 billion development pipeline is composed of 1.5 million square feet of office/retail properties, and over 3,000 new homes: for sale, for rent, intermediate and affordable.

Canary Wharf Group is an industry leader in sustainability including purchasing 100% renewable electricity for the Estate since 2012 and zero waste going to landfill from the managed Estate since 2009. Website: www.canarywharf.com

Instagram: @canarywharflondon @woodwharf

Twitter: @YourCanaryWharf; @CanaryWharfGrp @Level39CW, @Wood_Wharf

For this latest body of work photographer Tom Blachford turned his eye and signature style of nocturnal photography towards his home city of Melbourne, Australia.

The images, glistening in purple and blue hues, appear to be collages of multiple cities around the world, blended into one impossible dystopia. In reality the images are all single exposures taken in this case from 55 floors in the air from a carefully selected rooftop in Central Melbourne.

Inspired by Escher as well as the impossible cities of the Sci-Fi and Anime Genres, Blachford says, “I am fascinated by how one simple tweak can completely shot-circuit our brains ability to perceive depth, perspective and time”.

Blachford’s work is rooted in his fascination for the camera to act as a bridge between our world and dream worlds that are just out of reach of our senses. By using a long lens, extended exposure times, and rotation, the images are able to transport cities into their own cyberpunk metropolis, defying logic and engineering.

To accompany the exhibition Blachford, for the first time, stepped outside the medium of photography and produced 5 large scale, one off sculptures. Teaching himself to use CAD software, 3d printers, and microprocessor programming, Blachford created physical manifestations of his dystopian cyberpunk cities, and suspended them above the gallery space thereby extending his creations into the physical realm.

The show was Blachford’s first in his home city in 3 years having exhibited in Sydney, New York and London since the launch of the final series of his popular Palm Springs based Midnight Modern series in 2016.

The project was featured in various media including Aesthetica, CNN Style, Cool Hunting, The Design Files, Hypebeast, Wallpaper*, and a large feature in Shades of Colour.

Elisabeth Hoff released 'Drowning in Plastic', a haunting series of images to highlight the Great British Beach Clean, an annual event organised by The Marine Conservation Society.

Elisabeth Hoff is a photographer, director, and art director creating high end imagery for clients in the UK and abroad. Prior to this, she studied Marine Biology and grew up sailing around the world with her family. Inspired by her background she turned her lens to the single-use plastics that are clogging our oceans.

Working in collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society the images and film were released to encourage people to sign up and get involved with The Great British Beach Clean, that took place in September 2019.

Each image focusses on a single-use plastic such as plastic bags, bottles, cutlery, balloons, and glitter. Using her skillset as a fashion photographer, Elisabeth wanted to do a “beautiful take on a dirty subject”. The series shows models swimming through water - either surrounded or entangled in these single-use items. The pollutants’ appearance changes to almost become a representation of the wildlife in our oceans, and therefore reinforces the fact that without action, by 2050 there could be more plastic in the sea than fish.

The Great British Beach Clean is an annual event organised by The Marine Conservation Society which calls on the British public to volunteer a couple of hours of their time to help clean a 100m section of beach, and record the litter that they find. In 2018, 494 beaches were cleared by a record 15,000 volunteers, clearing an incredible 8550 kilos of litter - meaning that 600 items of litter were found on every 100 meters of the UK coastline.

The project was featured in various international news sites including The Times and Daily Mirror - UK, Euronews and MillionAIR - Europe, Mundiara - Spain, Naturala - Hungary, Yahoo Style - Germany, The Herald - Scotland, Huffington Post - Greece, Loeil de la Photographie - France, Canada News - Canada, and Sina - China.

"We all know that an image can say a thousand words - and also has the power to make great impact. But not if nobody sees it. Thanks to Blah PR my “Drowning in Plastic” series and awareness campaign for the Marine Conservation Society has been a massive success with media coverage I could only have dreamed of. As a result we have made an impact on getting volunteers signed up to join The Great British Beach Clean, and inspired people to take personal action with regards to the ocean plastic pollution issue. And we also have the stats to prove it. Thank you Mark!" Elisabeth Hoff

““We were delighted with the coverage that Mark was able to secure for our Great British Beach Clean, using Elisabeth Hoff’s wonderful imagery. He was a pleasure to work with, and with his help, we achieved one of our biggest ever events with thousands of volunteers helping to clean up beaches over that weekend”. Nicola Greaves, Head of Marketing, Marine Conservation Society

Portrait of Britain, is the largest exhibition of contemporary portrait photography ever held, as much a celebration of photography as it is a celebration of the diversity of our country’s people. 2019 was its fourth year, and British Journal of Photography launched the nationwide exhibition across JCDecaux UK’s national channel of digital screens.

The public encountered the winning photographs as they went about their daily lives; in rail stations, shopping malls, high streets, and at Heathrow Airport.

Following an open call by British Journal of Photography, thousands of portraits were submitted, and judges had the task of selecting the 200 shortlisted images from that number. All 200 images were printed in the Portrait of Britain Book Vol.2, published by Hoxton Mini Press.

Once again the range of images reflected the unique diversity of modern Britain, with portraits ranging from Max Miechowski’s portrait of a young couple salsa dancing in Burgess Park in London, to Shaun Ryder glaring at the the camera for his portrait by Theo McInnes. Some were chance encounters, some were staged for the camera, but all were arresting in their portrayal of the British people. Some, like Sirli Raitma’s portrait of her mother, also had a healing quality. Raitma started taking pictures of her mother to help her combat depression after moving to London widowed and suffering from epilepsy, and the portraits have helped combat this and boosted her confidence.

The winning images were displayed as part of the Portrait of Britain exhibition for the month of September.

100 Winners Gallery

200 Shortlisted images

Selected coverage - BBC In Pictures, The Guardian, The i, Royal Photographic Society Journal, Aesthetica, Evening Standard

Few would dispute that Glastonbury Festival is a place like no other on Earth – it’s an experience only fully understood by those who have traipsed through its fields almost ever summer for the last 48 years. In 2019 the festival returned after a year off and everyone’s excitement was building, and even though the headlines were focused on the Pyramid Stage and the celebrities spotted in the wings, there is a host of other people who make the Festival what it has become today. 

in 2006 photographer Matthew Joseph attended his first Glastonbury and discovered what all the fuss was about, but also noticed the diversity and freedom of the nearly 200,000 people on Worthy Farm.

“It is a safe place, a place lacking in judgment and a place of free expression. This naturally creates one of life’s great melting pots of people – one which I was keen to capture on camera,” he says.

The Pilton Project provided the viewer with a brief snapshot of life beyond the main stages – aiming to reach the core of what, and who, makes Glastonbury what it is. From young to old, fringe performers to circus acts, sewage collectors to charity workers – each of the people had their own unique reason for travelling to Worthy Farm, and each are truly fascinating in their own way. 

The project was featured in The Daily Mail and received a 4 page feature in Shades of Grey Magazine among others.

in 2019, 1854 Media, publisher of British Journal of Photography, in partnership with Magnum Photos, created Portrait of Humanity - an award aiming to unite the global community through the power of photography.

The judging panel, comprised of international industry leaders, selected the 50 winning portraits and each will be exhibited at celebrated galleries, museums, and photography festivals across the world.

The 200 shortlisted portraits were featured in the Portrait of Humanity book, published by Hoxton Mini Press and distributed worldwide. The Portrait of Humanity book is available to order here.

View the 50 winning images here: bjp.photo/pohwinner

View the 200 shortlisted images here: bjp.photo/pohshortlist

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will share $10,000 in grant awards, to create projects that explore their interpretations of humanity. They will also be announced in late summer before the tour takes place.

portraitofhumanity.co #portraitofhumanity

The international press coverage for the project reached nearly 900 million people around the world , including BBC World, Australian Photography, Digital SLR Photography Malaysia, Fotopolis Poland, Focus Magazine Holland, New York Times, The Guardian and Xataka Photo in Spain,

“After working on Portrait of Britain since it started, we decided to ask Mark to work on the newly launched Portrait of Humanity. The coverage reached millions of people around the world including a great interview on BBC World. We look forward to working with him on future projects.” Melanie Philippe, Awards Director, 1854 Media

Photographer Giles Revell’s series of images reinterpret the colours of well-known flowers, abstracting them to eliminate the distraction of form; petals and stems are reduced to accurate graphic examinations of the consistent hues.

The images, first printed in Cartographic Colour, a book published by Concentric Editions, were photographed partly on site at RHS Wisley using live specimens, and partly in Revell’s studio using cut flowers, meaning the level of detail contained in the images is highly impactful.

In May 2019 the images were displayed against the lush green backdrop of Crossrail Place Roof Garden, a tropical oasis in Canary Wharf. Printed as large format photographs and displayed around the garden the vibrancy of the images jump out of the foliage as you walk around.

Canary Wharf offers world-class, year-round arts and events programme presenting over 200 diverse and culturally inspiring events and exhibitions throughout the Estate.

Giles was interviewed for London Live as part of the project, and was also featured in the Canary Wharf Magazine, and Wharf Life newspaper.

The Association of Photographers (AOP) Awards 2019

Lobby, One Canada Square Canary Wharf

15th April – 31st May 2019

The AOP Awards gather together the best of the best in the photography world to celebrate the captured image. Now in its 35th Year, the Awards are seen as the Oscars of the photography world and in 2019 had over 2,000 entries in the various categories, a 15% rise on the previous year.

With the Photography Awards only open to members of the AOP, anyone is eligible to enter the Open Awards, making it a great starting point for new and upcoming talent. A first for 2019, the “Innovation” category highlighted the use of technology to make images, reflecting the changes in the industry as a whole.

Returning to 2018’s AOP50 exhibition venue, the images were displayed in the Lobby of One Canada Square for 7 weeks starting in mid-April, making 2019 the longest running public exhibition in the Awards’ history.

All 240 finalist images were on display for the public to view free of charge, and the winners were announced at a special event on 14th May in the East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf attended by 1,000 people.

The exhibition was on show in April as part of Canary Wharf’s ongoing temporary exhibition programme. Since the inception of Canary Wharf’s cultural master plan, the arts have played an important role in the development and success of the 128-acre Estate. Canary Wharf has one of the UK’s largest collections of public art, with more than 70 permanent works by over 50 world-renowned artists.

For a full list of the winners please visit the AOP Awards website

Selected Coverage

BBC News

Daily Mirror

The Guardian

The Independent

London Live

Yahoo India

Ria Russia

“Handing over the PR for the Awards 2019 was definitely a decision well made! Mark worked tirelessly to acquire coverage in all the major press, along with an interview with London Live. We look forward to developing our relationship with Mark as we collaborate once again for the Awards 2020.“ Rachel Rogers, Marketing Manager, Association of Photographers

Jason Koxvold & Aldo Varisco - Published by Gnomic Book

Calle Tredici Martiri (Alley of the Thirteen Martyrs) is a fictionalised photographic reinterpretation of Jason Koxvold’s grandfather Aldo Varisco’s campaign of direct action against the Nazi incursion into Italy. The book is comprised of 144 pages of Koxvold’s photographs and 80 pages of Varisco’s memoirs of the resistance, illustrated with archival imagery.

The books’ title refers to the location of the Venetian headquarters of the National Republication Guard at Ca Giustinian, which Varisco’s team destroyed with explosives in 1944, killing 13. The following day, the Germans shot 13 Italian prisoners in retribution for the attack; Varisco and his team were later captured and extensively tortured. After the war, the street was alongside Ca Giustinian was renamed “Calle Tredici Martiri”.

Today, the United States is involved in the longest war in the nations history, fought against nebulous and invisible terrorists – with yet no end in sight. This project explores the impossibility of photographic truth in the context of the contemporary nexus of capitalism, fascism and consumerism within which we locate ourselves.

Ca Giustinian is today the site of the offices of the Venice Biennale.

www.gnomicbook.com

As part of the coverage Jason was interviewed by British Journal of Photography, as well as being featured in Wallpaper*, Focus Magazine from Holland, and also Il Post in Italy.

Brockley Max is a nine-day community arts festival celebrating local talent. It takes place in lots of different venues across Brockley, Ladywell, Crofton Park and Honor Oak and is a non-profit festival that everyone can attend and be part of.

Brockley Max is held the first week in June each year. The Opening Night will take place on the first Friday of the festival from 4pm to 10.30pm by Brockley station and features live bands, singers and dance performances. This vibrant, open-air concert, with an audience of over 600, always gets the party started!

The festival was featured on various local websites and also in Time Out, The Spectator, and The Resident, and Festival Director Moira Tait was interviewed for the Back To The Drawing Board Podcast.

“Mark worked with the Brockley Max Festival to increase our media coverage, both locally and to the wider community. He knew exactly what we needed, was proactive and thought creatively to increase our reach. He was a joy to work with and would I thoroughly recommend him.” Moira Tait, Festival Director

A free photography exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of China’s Reform and Opening was launched on Monday 10 December at London’s Kings Cross Station.  

Commissioned by the China International Culture & Image Communication Corporation “Reform and Dreams” featured 80 stunning individual photographs taken over the last 40 years by photographers of the Xinhua News Agency, China’s biggest and most influential media organisation.  Giving a unique insight into the lives of Chinese people, this was the first time the images have been shown together and many had never been seen before in the United Kingdom.

Each of the 80 images capture offer insight into daily life in China since 1978 and showcase the close relationship between China and the United Kingdom, over what has proven to be an extraordinary time of change to China’s development path.  Together the images show the power of the Chinese people and detail how Reform and Opening Up in China have enabled its people aspire to better lives and explore beyond their borders.

For a limited time, this free photography exhibition was positioned throughout the concourse of London’s King’s Cross station before it went on to Paris.

Mr Gu, Chief of Xinhua’s London Bureau comments: “Never before has such a unique photographic celebration of China’s Reform and Opening Up been brought to London.  With this exhibition we want to show a developing China, and the optimism and enthusiasm of Chinese people in the process of this development.

  “Every Chinese person has played their part in these 40 years of history. Their dreams have converged to form the irresistible power that has propelled China’s development. This exhibition tells the stories of the lives of these ordinary Chinese people for whom past four decades have meant so much.”

The Exhibition was featured in the Daily Mail, the worlds biggest news website, UK Chinese Times, The European Times, and CreativeBoom.

“Mark is a pleasure to work with. He completely understood the needs of the client, gave good consultation on how to position the work and delivered strong media coverage within a very limited time period.  Most impressive was the fact that Mark did not stop pitching after securing the first round of coverage, instead he continued to ensure every avenue had been exhausted before completing the campaign.” Jill Cotton, World Photography Organisation

A deliciously visual illustrated book of works by the artist,  Co-published by Concentric Editions and Sylph Editions 

Slipping in and out of character is the central theme of Paper Dolls, a deliciously visual illustrated book on the cut-out collage artworks of artist Hormazd Narielwalla.

Born in India and living in London, Narielwalla has carved out his unique place on the contemporary art scene as the master puppeteer, instilling new life into paper shapes from the past through the creation of rich layers of meaning, symbolism, and sublime abstract patterns of colour and form alike. His work has recently been shown at Southbank Centre and the Royal Academy.

Paper Dolls brings together a collection of the acclaimed artist’s signature abstract collage artworks on vintage sewing patterns, alongside a set of figurative self-portraits, where Narielwalla casts himself as a mysterious geisha. Inspired by an chance encounter with an elegant lady in the streets of Soho, the artist began to wonder what it would be like to be her and through this he found himself delving into the mysteries and contradictions of identity in a multifarious world, and takes the viewer along with him as he conjures up paper dolls, hidden gardens, people, and portraits.

In her introduction to Paper Dolls, Gill Saunders, Senior Curator for Prints at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, notes that putting on new clothes can produce or release a new self and can transform the wearer’s consciousness. From Claude Cahun to Cindy Sherman, artists have played with what novelist Marina Warner has called ‘the mercurial slipperiness of identity’ by dressing up, and making up, inventing other selves to explore the world from a different perspective. Masquerade, a tradition in many cultures, is likewise an opportunity to adopt disguise as a means of disinhibition, allowing the wearer to ignore conventional norms of behaviour, to be playful or provocative. With Paper Dolls, Saunders observes, Hormazd Narielwalla draws on this rich tradition of masquerade and cross-dressing to weave a beguiling narrative in which he becomes one of the paper dolls who people his collages and prints.

A consistent thread running through his work has been the melding of different cultures – from the Mexican exotica that is fundamental to the self-fashioning of Frida Kahlo, to the mysteries of the Far East embodied in the elaborate formality and lavish decoration of the Japanese geisha. Like a character in a fairy tale, he conjures himself into a new identity by the shape- shifting transformative power of dress, picturing himself as an impassive geisha, in a sequence of costumes exquisitely crafted from cut paper fragments.

Limited Edition of 250 copies, and 4 x hors serie, worldwide made up of;

225 x Special Editions - £180.00

25 x Collectors Editions with a signed print and a bespoke box - £445.00

www.concentriceditions.com

The book was featured in Portfolio Magazine, the 1st Class magazine for Emirates Airlines and was also the cover feature. Also, the artist was interviewed by The Pool Magazine and Design Pataki in India, and the book was also featured in Christie’s Magazine, State Magazine and It’s Nice That.

“Mark worked on the launch of my book - Paper Dolls. The book was featured in a spectrum of magazine and online editorials, with a cover story feature in Emirates Magazine. I had a really good working relationship with Mark, who was always professional and really easy to talk to.” Hormazd Narielwalla

Eden Fine Art held the first UK exhibition for Angelo Accardi entitled MISPLACED, which opened in Mayfair on Thursday 25th October 2018. 

Accardi’s latest collection continued to explore the unconscious mind in colourful, symbolic, and layered artworks, presenting a viewpoint that is full of humour, wit, and great beauty. His complex, neo-surrealist paintings and austere neoclassical sculptures connect artists, characters, and artistic styles across centuries of Art in a collection that references history while remaining contemporary.

Using contrasting references to create “opposite poles” his images use repeated presences such as the minion, the rhino, and the ostrich, to highlight the material nature and contradiction of the man who creates with so much passion, and destroys with malice and ease. 

The launch event was attended by over 450 people with DJ Will Best providing the music, while aerial performers and costume characters entertained the guests.

Coverage included FAD, Wall Street International and CreativeBoom

The latest and final release in Australian photographer Tom Blachford’s long-running project, Midnight Modern, was exhibited for the first time at TOTH Gallery in New York in October 2018. 

Loosening the shackles of Palm Springs and Mid Century, Blachford’s exhibition of 12 large scale works explored some of the outer reaches of the Modernist movement in Architecture, and captured using only the light of the full moon. 

Blachfords series is a surreal ode to the landscapes of California and its cache of pristine Modernist buildings. Shot entirely at night, bathed in moonlight, the homes, vintage cars, and foliage appear as they have been captured in another space and time. Recognising the locations may be easy, but it is more difficult to identity when the image was actually taken, be this day or night, in the past, present, or future. The images act as portals in time where it seems these moments exist in all places at once. 

For Blachford these unique residences act as the sets for infinite narratives, both real and imagined, which the viewer is invited to script for themselves. Each image acts as a still frame for a story about to start and end simultaneously. 

California has a unique geography and climate, and this gives rise to a distinct deep blue sky: a hue of moonlight ideal for this approach to architectural photography. The long exposure allows the camera to capture a world just beyond our perception and distil it into a single moment. 

The exhibition was featured in British Journal of Photography, Aesthetica, Architectural Digest USA, Buzzfeed, and Dezeen among others.

"Mark brought experience, humour, perseverance and a wonderful eye to to the table and helped me to achieve a result well beyond my initial goals. I will be using his services on anything and everything i can in the future. What a guy" Tom Blachford

Alys Tomlinson, Sony World Photographer of the Year 2018, is to publish a book of her acclaimed series Ex-Voto. Selected from over 300,000 entries, she is only the second British photographer in the award’s history to scoop the major prize. The Ex-Voto series was also awarded 1st Prize in the Discovery Category of the Sony World Photography Awards and shortlisted for the British Journal of Photography IPA, Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, and Renaissance Photography Prize.

The series explores the Christian pilgrimage sites of Lourdes (France), Ballyvourney (Ireland) and Grabarka (Poland). An ex-voto is an offering of religious devotion and the project images encompass formal portraiture, large format landscape and small, detailed still-life images of the objects and markers left behind. Shot on 5x4, large format film, the images evoke a distinct stillness and reflect the mysterious, timeless quality present at these sites of great spiritual contemplation. 

The series will be published by GOST Books with essays by The Guardian writer Sean O'Hagan and Professor John Eade, University of Roehampton. 

To pre-order the book please visit http://www.alystomlinson.co.uk/ex-voto-book/ 

To coincide with Alys’ Kickstarter campaign she was featured in various religious publications including The Catholic Universe and The Tablet, and also interviewed for the World Photography Organisation website.

Book of ideas - vol.2 continues what designer and creative director Radim Malinic started in the first edition, offering yet more indispensable advice on making it in the creative industries. Chapters cover issues ranging from creativity for good, how to decode our own creative DNA, embracing limitations, using humour and how to entertain the “right wrongs”. It discusses how to improve design work through more skillful use of language, and in doing so, how to stir the right reactions and present well-rounded creative projects with confidence.

Among the ‘ideas’ and the work illustrating them, Book of ideas - vol.2 offers holistic guidance on better understanding yourself as a creative and how to approach your life and work in a mindful, smart way to make you a better designer, creator and thinker, at any point in your career.

Following on from the original series 2016 release and  #1 Amazon bestseller in the Graphic Arts, the latest book is taking the experiences from the previous volume, expands on his advice, and also incorporates case studies detailing the process of his work.

“The book won’t teach you how to design, but it should show you how you can be a better and more thoughtful designer, thinker, and creator. “ Malinic says.

The book was created in partnership with Adobe Stock and Malinic used Adobe Stock and Adobe Creative Cloud to create the cover artwork. The book includes a case study on the process that he followed. Adobe Stock has curated a collection containing the original assets used to create the cover to help creative enthusiasts follow along.

www.adobe.com/go/bookofideas

Available from November Universe

Coverage for the book included Digital Arts, Logo Creative and the Adobe Blog.

As part of this year's Peckham Festival, Benjamin Rice presented Wild Cherry, his series of 3m wide photographs, at ECAD Gallery on Consort Road, Peckham.

Rice was smitten the moment he saw this Wild Cherry tree on Peckham Rye, “It was everything that I had been searching for." He returned to photograph it again many times as it gradually revealed subtle nuances of character with each passing day. 

Rice says "It has personality - defiance above all. It stands proudly alone, unlike the huddled trees behind. It may have its flaws but is not afraid to flaunt them.”

"In the spring it entices with pink-white blossom; during the summer it is draped in gradually darkening shades of green. As the languid days of November near, cloaking itself in blazing reds, golds, and burned orange; and in the monochromatic days of winter when its leaves have fallen, stripped bare, exposed to the wind and the rain, it is still a beacon of beauty."

www.benjaminrice.co.uk

The Peckham Peculiar wrote about the Festival in their September issue.

Blah PR is proud to be the global press contact for media enquires concerning the Arrested Movement project. Should you have any questions regarding this photo series and the message behind it, please get in contact on mark@blahpr.co.uk

Arrested Movement - A body positive photo series of men by Anthony Patrick Manieri

In recent years, the push to include the issue of body positivity awareness into the mainstream conversation has been acknowledged in the media as a woman’s issue, but it is a human issue.  Men should be included in the same narrative; creating a unifying dialogue about loving and accepting ourselves, and with that, helping to create a ripple effect in the awareness of social consciousness.  

As a professional photographer working in fashion and portrait photography, Anthony Patrick Manieri noticed that many of his clients mentioned parts of their bodies that they were not truly conformable with, and should be hidden or photo-shopped in the final image. More and more this was the male subject who was talking in this way. We as a society are bombarded from an early age with what is considered to be beautiful and acceptable through television, movies, advertising and the dominant juggernaut of social media via our computers and smartphones.  All causing negative affects on our self-esteem, telling us we are not perfect and we need to change. 

Arrested Movement is an inclusive awareness initiative and portrait series celebrating and promoting positive body image for men. It focuses on men of all races, smooth or hairy, from thin and tall to large and short, men with physical disabilities, transgender men, as well as two-spirited men.

Manieri holds space on set for these men, allowing them to feel empowered, looking for a moment where the soul comes through, then stopping time when their authentic self meets his eye and the shutter of his camera.  A celebratory moment of self-joy, self-empowerment and self-acceptance is captured. The freedom that many of these men experience bubbles out and often overwhelms them. 

So far the project has been featured in Vogue Italia, EBT2 TV in Spain, Gay Star News, Star Observer Australia, Express Magazine New Zealand, and BARNAB Paris.

The River Thames is not even the longest river in the British Isles and a mere pygmy in comparison with many other rivers in the world, yet its significance to British and world history is immense. London is one of the major cities of the world today, but it would not have existed if it were not for the River Thames passing through it. Just before the Thames reaches London it becomes tidal and formed a natural harbour such that London has been a port since pre-Roman times. 

Still today, the Thames acts as an artery of communication and trade route between Britain and the rest of the world. Photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten is not alone in her admiration of the glories of the river. Notably, it has been an inspiration to many painters. Monet painted the river repeatedly. Turner too captured the working river even revealing the early nineteenth century fumes and smoke from the city’s factories and river traffic. Whistler was yet another. In the 1860s and 70s he was drawn to paint the bustling and rapidly changing urban neighbourhoods close to the river. But when one views all these works, it is not at all difficult to understand why they all found it such an attractive, potent subject matter.

Her own fascination with the Thames has now taken a more concrete form. She has made it into a project and is in the process of choosing, investigating and photographing a selection of cultural and historical narratives from along its banks.

Julia was interviewed on BBC World about the project, watched by a worldwide audience of 125 million people, as well as a 32 page feature in Shades of Colour Magazine.

The annual Portrait of Britain exhibition by British Journal of Photography once again took place across the country in September 2018. The winning 100 images were revealed at the end of August in time for the launch of the exhibition, which opened on the 1st September. 

Each year Portrait of Britain takes place across JCDecaux's national channel of digital screens with 100 portraits of the British public displayed in rail, retail, and roadside locations in cities nationwide  This year all 200 shortlisted images were also be printed in a book published by Hoxton Mini Press and released on the 6th September at a special event. The book can be ordered from here.

“Who are we? It’s a simple enough question, yet not so easy to answer beyond some basic assumptions. Talk about a country – in this case, one going through some serious soul-searching – then the question is more loaded. The 200 photographs in this book don’t provide any easy answers. But in a period during which we are constantly fed the narrative of a country divided, they provide a timely reminder that a nation is made up of individuals, not just the sum of our tribal interests. Each portrait is a story in itself. And collectively they present an alternative to the political rhetoric, a human face that gives some nuance to the picture of who we are.” - Simon Bainbridge, Editorial Director, British Journal of Photography.

“It seems almost impossible to define what it is to be British nowadays. Yet these images, in all their diversity, captured by photographers as varied as their subject, reflect something of the richness of this nation and remind us of what there is to be celebrated. Each portrait is both surprising and intimate and in its own way, tells a small story. Some are newly born, others dying, some hopeful, others fearful. We hope the book is a powerful snapshot of a moment in our shared history that stands the test of time.” - Martin Usbourne, Co-Founder, Hoxton Mini Press.

Now in its third year the exhibition has gained momentum each year, attracting thousands of entries from amateur and professional photographers. The images were judged by Simon Bainbridge, Editorial Director, British Journal of Photography; Caroline Hunter, Picture Editor, Guardian Weekend Magazine; Olivia Arthur, Magnum Photographer; and Martin Usborne, who is the Co-Founder of Hoxton Mini Press.

The shortlisted and winning photographers can be found in the Portrait of Britain gallery here - http://gallery.portraitofbritain.uk 

The 2018 exhibition was featured in various publications including BBC News both in the UK and Russia, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Sky News Breakfast, The Guardian, The Sun, and internationally in Der Spiegel (Germany), Il Foglio (Italy), Nederlands Dagblad (Holland, and Observador (Portugal).

Photographer Benjamin Rice took part in the 2018 Dulwich Festival. Showing at Bell House, his images of Dry Stone Walls are a metaphor for the marriage between nature and human endeavour. Printed landscape and measuring 3m in size, the precision and variety of nature's enrichment is only revealed when seen at this scale.

Also on display was his Tree series, a study of a tree in Peckham photographed over the past few months in various states of leaf fall. 

www.benjaminrice.co.uk

Punk artist Mal-One exhibited a series of new works at Herrick Gallery in London in May 2018. 

Never Mind The Punk 45 was a mixed-media show featuring decollages from the forerunners of the punk rock’s movement, focussing on the debut 45” releases. Cutting back from the original sleeve artwork to show snippets of related material from the band’s back story, the images were made up of press cuttings, promo badges, and tickets along with other items. 

Band included are Adam & The Ants, Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Damned, Ian Dury, Generation X, The Jam, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Stranglers, and X Ray Spex. 

Also on display was the work 100 Punks, a collage of 100 punk singles inspired by the original wall at Rough Trade that featured many a Punk record sleeve. 

To coincide with this exhibition Mal-One released a limited edition 7” single as part of this years Record Store Day.

www.herrickgallery.com

Photographer Tom Oldham announced a unique collaboration with musician and producer Andy Gangadeen, and the publicans and performers of East London institution, The Palm Tree. The Last of the Crooners comprises a set of award-winning and atmospheric portraits of the singers and musicians who play at the pub every weekend and an LP of live recordings from these sessions. 

Long-time landlords at The Palm Tree, Val and Alf Barrett welcomed all-comers to an evening of live music where a selection of the photographs, which were awarded the Professional Portrait Award at the Sony World Photography Awards 2018, were exhibited. A strictly limited vinyl edition of The Last of the Crooners album, restricted to 500 copies, is on sale at the pub on a first-come-first-served basis. (Please note this record will be only available to purchase from the pub exclusively, so as to ensure visitors will have first experienced the environment to then enjoy the music at home).

www.tomoldham.com

Tom’s exhibition was featured on BBC London, Jo Good’s BBC Radio London, Monocle 24 Radio among others.

David Magee presented his first public exhibition of landscape and seascape photographs at Herrick Gallery in February 2018. The exhibition showcased a retrospective body of work spanning twenty-five years, and coincided with the release of his limited edition book Outside, published by Concentric Editions.

This beautifully printed and meticulously produced book presents an overview of his approach to landscape photography consisting of forty-seven plates painstakingly selected from an extensive archive. Outside is a gallery in itself with a collection of images that encapsulate the essence of his atmospheric photography.

The elements - earth, water and air – and where the land and sea meet the sky, are the recurring themes that Magee works with. However, it is the composition and the combinations of light, tone and movement, as well as the passage of time captured through extended exposures that creates the atmosphere that sets his photographs apart.

Magee says, “In my photographs, there is no real sense of time or of a specific place. The location is totally secondary to the feeling. The feeling is everything.”

Published by Concentric Editions, with only 500 copies worldwide, this limited edition book is hand numbered and signed by the artist. With a foreword by Academy-Award winning director Terry George, and an interview with Dr Collete Nolan.

David was interviewed by London Live for his exhibition and was featured in Country Life Magazine, ArtDaily, PhotoBite and Photogrvphy

Since publication the book has won the following awards;

Gold Winner

PX3 - Prix de la Photographie 2018

Silver Winner

Moscow International Foto Awards 2018

Tokyo International Foto Awards 2017

Nominated

Athens Photo Festival 2018

Print, Design & Marketing Awards 2018

Lucie Photo Book Awards

British Book Design & Production Awards

From November 2017 until the start of 2018, HENI Gallery in London presented an exhibition of works by Simone Fattal to coincide with the publication of Simone Fattal: Watercolours by HENI Publishing.

The limited edition book presents over 100 watercolours works, from still lifes to abstracts. Made between 1972 and 2016, the book depicts a combination of painting, collage and sculptural works, all preceded by a discussion with the Artistic Director of London’s Serpentine Gallery, Han-Ulrich Obrist. This open discussion sees Fattal ruminating on her childhood in Damascus, her publishing company Post-Apollo Press, and other recurring themes that continue to inspire her long-standing affinity with the watercolour medium.

www.henipublishing.com

ArtReview reviewed the exhibition as in their February 2018 issue

This book is David Bailey’s portrayal of the landscapes and personalities of the mystical and densely forested Naga Hills, part of the complex mountain barrier between India and Myanmar (Burma), and home to the Naga tribes, “those with pierced ears” in Burmese. Bailey’s desire to visit the Naga Hills has been with him since youth, yet access had been continually restricted because of war and unrest – until 2012 when that wish finally became a reality.

Bailey had initially wanted to photograph the story of the last headhunters in the region, but in typical Bailey style, he needed to improvise when this didn’t quite go to plan: he recalls for example cutting though difficult terrain (at times needing to walk beside the four-wheel drive), becoming lost for hours, only to be discovered by armed men who directed him to a party at a guard post, where he proceeded to dance the night away with the soldiers…

This is the newest book exploring Bailey’s on-going fascination with India, the previous being his Delhi Dilemma of 2012, and by no means the last – for in Bailey’s words, “India seems endless”.

www.steidl.de

The book was featured in Arts Illustrated, State Magazine, and Vogue India among others.

As a fashion photographer, Amelia Allen works in an industry obsessed with body image, one that focuses on the most flattering way of dressing oneself. It was therefore an usual and refreshing step for her move into a world where the body is completely liberated, devoid of styling and stripped of fabric and fashion.

In Naked Britain, Amelia explores the reason behind the unique and controversial status of naturism in today’s society that often associates nudity with sex. To Amelia, that association if a harmful misconception; In the naturist world, people connect as equals, regardless of appreaance, wealth, occupation, or status, be literally stripping off and immersing herself in the 21st century naturism, Amelia discovered liberation, empowerment and the sense of fun that naturists embrace and enjoy.

For two years she inhabited both worlds producing this sociological documentary through the eye song her camera lens. Her developing interests in reportage photography comes from her enjoyment of travelling, meeting new people and observing them in their everyday life. Amelia’s ability to connect with people and tell and story through imagery facilitated this publication and exhibition.

“The sense of fun, freedom, and liberation that naturism offers its advocates is extraordinarily infectious and I like to think I have captured the raw beauty of that.”

www.kehrerverlag.com

Amelia was interviewed on BBC World News, BBC Radio London and The Telegraph, and her images were featured on many news sites including the Daily Mail, Metro, and GARAGE Magazine.

Artist Alexander de Cadenet presented for the first time in the UK Creations – an exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook, a Sir Christopher Wren church in the heart of the financial City of London from 3rd October to 3rd November 2017.

The show comprised of a series of life-sized, unique solid silver and gold plated hamburger sculptures that are a protest against our society’s ever increasing materialistic greed and hunger for power and status. Two of the burgers featured images of Donald Trump reflecting the current mood in politics.

The sculptures consist of various materialistic objects crammed in between a McDonald’s sesame seed burger bun – these watches, cars, planes, Barbie dolls, and money display varying degrees of grotesquery.

In keeping with the spiritual sanctity of the venue and in addition to the 10 new ‘Life Burger’ sculptures, there was a message of redemption in the form of a single much larger scale bronze apple with three bites taken form it. This work is designed to balance the more protesting themes explored by the burgers.

Arts & Collections Magazine featured the exhibition on their social media channels, while Artlyst wrote a long piece on their website.

www.alexanderdecadenet.com

One year after its debut, the UK’s biggest photography exhibition returned, putting the country’s citizens centre stage once more on digital screens up and down the land. Portrait of Britain, in partnership with JCDecaux and Nikon, gave photographers, amateur and professional alike, the chance to showcase their work across the country.

Visualised as an exhibition for the people, by the people, Portrait of Britain reached more than a third of the UK population in 2016. It returned in 2017 with another 100 photographs showing in busy public spaces nationwide. The public encountered the images as they went about their daily lives, displayed across JCDecaux’s digital channel of screens in places such as rail stations, shopping malls, high streets and Heathrow.

Following an open call by the British Journal of Photography, neatly 8000 portraits were entered, from which the final 100 were chosen.

The wining images from the exhibition can be seen at portraitofbritain.uk and many of them are available to buy as art prints from gallery.portraitofbritain.uk

The exhibition was featured in The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The i, and The Times, as well as Sky Breakfast, BBC In Pictures, Mail Online, and The Jewish Chronicle among others.

David Bailey’s King’s X brings together two books – King’s Cross and Street People King’s Cross – as one slipcase limited edition, dedicated to the area in which Bailey has lived for over 20 years.

Bailey presents a striking yet complementary contrast to the street photography of King’s Cross in Street People King’s Cross, turning his famed portraiture to the people that live on those very streets. Initially commissioned by The Big Issue in 1999, these portraits of homelessness showcase Bailey’s unsurpassed talent in capturing unexpected aspects of his subjects, challenging preconceptions with a quiet intimacy. King’s Cross meanwhile focuses on the fast-changing landscape of the area. Bailey’s relatively recent photographs – together with an insightful text by Francis Hodgson – are an testament to the ever-changing city and the stories held within. For every copy sold a £10 donation will be make to a homeless charity.

www.henipublishing.com

The book and accompanying exhibition were featured in many outlets including The Big Issue, Time Out and It’s Nice That.

For his fifth solo show, British artist Blondey McCoy unveiled Us and Chem., an exhibition that intimately drew a parallel between art and therapy. Us and Chem. is a study in self reflection and the psychological manifestations of chemical imbalance. McCoy describes the 12-new mirror works as: ‘A product of disaster. Anti-drugs and pro art… the fruits of a project fuelled by hyper productivity as a means of combatting depression, rather than burying it the easy way’.

On account of his favourite magazine shop waving farewell to Soho’s square mile, Blondey has been forced to move away from his signature cut and stick photo montages of pre existing material and has collected, curated, photographed and then printed onto mirrors a London abode-ful of articles representing the joys and pains of interior and exterior London life. All works were original and unseen, with some presented in sash and leaded window frames of up to 4.5 feet tall. 

The show featured the artists debut collaboration piece, with British artist Damien Hirst: a painted then printed on one-off five foot tall spin painting.

“In feeling blue, tragically, the natural thing to do is stay blue. The creating of these new works has proven to me, more than ever before, that expressionism and making artwork is a way of temporarily exorcising that feeling. The show was created out of a compulsion to create, not one to show off, throw a party or make money. It’s making has been a revelation in accepting the need to treat bipolar as a blessing rather than a curse, and to perpetually guarantee myself that from long hum drum periods of heightened sensitivity, my most genuine and life affirming artwork is born.’ 

www.blondeymccoy.com

For the exhibition Blondey was interviewed by BBC London and BBC Radio London, as well as i-D and FAD.

Tom Oldham first visited Lesotho in 2009, shooting for the NGO Riders for Health, on a whistle-stop shoot travelling through this mountain kingdom. On the winding, climbing roads he’d see herder boys tending to their animals and immediately imagined a series of images that he just couldn’t shake from his mind – their distinctive silhouettes against the sky, these icons of Lesotho wrapped in the woollen blankets that provide their only protection from an intense sun or a brutal winter.

The herder boys work astonishingly hard, for very low pay, in the toughest conditions imaginable. It is the only option available to some, who often have very little formal education and can enter into this employment from early childhood.

In November 2016, he was able to return to Lesotho to shoot these portraits and with some valuable assistance from the team at Riders for Health he came home with some very special new work.

The Herder Boys of Lesotho exhibition was supported by Hasselblad, and was printed and framed by Metro Imaging. This was Tom’s first solo West End exhibition and was held at the White Space Gallery, on Great Newport Street – just off Leicester Square in London.

Tom was interviewed on The Monocle Weekly radio show speaking about the exhibition and his work.

As human beings we have always been interested in electricity. Since it was first showcased by scientists in the 1800’s people have been fascinated by seeing the power of this elemental force. People flocked to Victorian ‘public spectacles’ and today we still use Michael Faraday’s many discoveries in our everyday lives.

The Faraday Cage, named after the man himself, has many uses, ranging from surrounding the microwave in your kitchen, to helping protect cars and planes from lightening strikes. Even the Brexit Secretary’s briefcase is a Faraday Cage, keeping sensitive information from prying ears and eyes.

Artist Garry Hunter used Faraday’s principles to contain and ‘sculpt’ sonic inputs, within an egg-shaped cage, creating electrical arcs from an coil upcycled from reclaimed elements including a particle accelerator and a plastic drainpipe.

Hunter has been interested in Faraday for some time and this 5-year project finally came to fruition. Working with engineers at FAB LAB RUC at Roskilde University, Denmark, he created this Faraday Cage sonic interface, which was demonstrated as part of Open House Weekend on the 16th and 17th September 2017 at Trinity Buoy Wharf, supported by TBW Trust.

In July 2017 artist Brian Clarke exhibited his Summer Solstice Screens at HENI Gallery in Soho.  The screens were provoked by the artist’s travels around the world and he created each screen to reveal a resonating characteristic of a different place, each is a uniquely contemporary expression of ‘genius loci’ taking the subject matter and medium to an entirely new experience.

Using the stained glass techniques Clarke has honed over the past 40 years, the artist revealed a world of energetic vivacity. Each composition traversed the twelve individual panels that formed every screen and revealed the kinetic nature of the medium. Movement, seen through the transparent membrane, movement of transilluminated colour and light reflected from the animate character of the material itself all contributed to a beguiling and vivid poetic experience.

www.brianclarke.co.uk

Brian was interviewed by BBC London ahead of the show and Fated & Fabled attended the private view to write about it.

After a successful exhibition in London, Scarlett Raven and Marc Marot took The Danger Tree interactive exhibition to Liverpool. The city had a deep connection with the work as the Liverpool PALS regiment were open of the first to be sent to fight in WWII, and consequently one of the last groups to be disbanded.

The works, when viewed through a mobile device, come to life, some showing the layers of paint being stripped away, others referencing poetry and spoken word associated with the fighting.

www.scarlettraven.com

The exhibition was featured on BBC North West and BBC Radio as well as the Liverpool Echo and Art in Liverpool

Gerhard Richter has been creating his Artist Books since 1966, and Heni Publishing celebrated the release of his last book, 40 Tage, with an exhibition which opened on the 23rd February 2017.

40 Tage features a series of 40 graphite-on-paper drawings, drawn between May and September 2015. Richter’s Artist Books are considered to be artworks in their own right and have become sought after items. The latest title was published as a limited edition of 800 numbered copies worldwide.

To coincide with the books release, the 40 Tage series of work was displayed as facsimiles of the original works, at the Heni exhibition space in Soho, London from the 23rd February to 9th April 2017. The works spanned two rooms, organised chronologically, followed by a third room dedicated to Richter’s engagement with artist books. All 30 of the previously released books were displayed, including: Polke/Richter. Richter/Polke (Hannover: Gallerie h, 1966), War Cut II (Cologne: Walter Koenig, 2004), and Atlas in Four Volumes (Cologne: Walter Koenig, 2015).

www.henipublishing.com

As part of the coverage Hans-Ulrich Obrist spoke with 52 Insights about the artist and his books.

First published in 1982, David Bailey’s NW1 captured a vanishing part of London.

Primrose Hill and Camden had been his home for nearly 30 years and it was slowly changing, so he decided to photograph the shuttered cinemas, boarded railway arches, crumbling Victorian facades, dormant car parks and advertising hoardings.

34 years ago it was a statement of the suburban decay, and looking back on the images now it becomes even more poignant.

Gone is the history to be replaced with glass and steel, family businesses replaced by chain fashion stores and coffee shops.

Extracts from the book, which has long been sold out, have now be re-printed for the first time in a special limited edition hand numbered and signed by the artist. The new edition also contains an unseen photograph from the series.

To coincide with the release of the book the images were exhibited at the HENI Gallery in Soho from 1st December 2016 to 31st January 2017. This was the first time the images have been exhibited.

www.henipublishing.com

The book and exhibition were widely covered by the media including London Evening Standard, The Telegraph, the Times Literary Supplement, and the British Journal of Photography.

In its debut year, Portrait of Britain was launched by The British Journal of Photography to critical acclaim. Showcasing the face of a modern country, the images, in partnership with JCDecaux, were displayed on digital screens across the country.

Attracted approximately 4000 entries, the final 100 images were a mixture of amateurs and professionals alike.

The exhibition was featured in many media outlets both in the UK and overseas. The Times, Independent, Mashable, Buzzfeed, BBC and MSN all featured the images, as well as TIME in the US and Rolling Stone in Italy.

“Blah PR worked together with British Journal of Photography for a newly launched and unique exhibition - Portrait of Britain. They were highly professional throughout, passionate about the project as if it were their own, and understood our aims from the very start which translated into an incredible amount exposure and success for the campaign. “ British Journal of Photography

“I was delighted by the quality and breadth of coverage that Mark achieved for Portrait of Britain -  from The Times and the Telegraph through to Mashable and BuzzFeed. Mark was proactive, creative and a pleasure to work with. The scale of the PR he achieved surpassed my expectations.”  Janet Guest, Editorial Director, JCDecaux

On 20th June 2016, the longest of the year, Tom Oldham photographed 24 people, 1 every hour for each hour of the day. All participants were at work and ranged from club performers, to midwives, to cycle couriers.

Taken on the Monday, the images were then put into a free newspaper which was given away at selected tube stations in London on the Friday. As people woke up to the shock Brexit result, the newspaper was a visual reminder of the variety of London’s vibrant East End.

www.tomoldham.com

The Evening Standard ran a nice piece the day before the release of the free newspaper, which was then picked up by Time Out and The Big Issue among others.

Designer Radim Malinic released his first Book of Ideas in 2016. The book was such a success that the initial print run quickly sold out and more had to be printed. Covered international by various media including New Design Magazine and It’s Nice That (UK), 72dpi (Germany), Graffica (Spain), Vile Arts (Sweden), and Xueui (China), the book went onto become an Amazon No.1 Best Seller.

www.bookofindeas.co.uk

As the PR Manager for TASCHEN I looked after most of the EMEA and APAC territories. My role was to place features stories in media not only for the books, but also back stories about the company itself. Below are a few examples

Archcritik - India, Bespoke Magazine - Lebanon, D2 - Norway, Esquire - Poland, Esquire - UK, Esquire Big Black Book - UK, Gulf Today - United Arab Emirates, Hospodarske Noving - Czech Republic, L’Azure - Russia, Metro - UK, Rolls Royce Magazine - UK, South China Morning Post - Hong Kong, Svenska Dagsbladet - Sweden, The Independent on Sunday - UK, The Telegraph Magazine - UK, The Times Literary Supplement - UK, Vogue - China, Vogue - UK, Vogue Living - Australia, The World of Interiors - UK

I worked with ECAD Gallery advising them on raising their profile in the Peckham, and wider photography markets.