Durham and Middlesbrough Editorial Documentary Photographer | Reportage Commissions

In my work as a North East photographer specialising in documentary photography, sometimes also called reportage photography, people often ask me what those terms mean.

The best way I can describe it is photography that records events and moments as they happen, rather than them being overly-directed or staged. Reportage is much more than simply strolling about with a camera, an event has to be able to flow and the photographer should adopt a fly on the wall approach to get the best results.

I’ve done hundreds of royalty and VIP photography photo-calls  and it wouldn’t do to be ordering people around in order to get the photos my client wants, instead I have to work with what’s in front of me and be quick and experienced enough to see the shot coming. There’s a saying in photography circles that goes ‘if you can see the shot, you’ve missed it’, and it’s very true.

Event photography over the north east is particularly challenging, with so many off the cuff moments going on simultaneously, plus a list of people who must be on the photos. Sometimes I’m asked to squeeze in a few head shots and corporate portraits of particularly key business people. The results are often used to promote future events so it’s important to capture the feel and atmosphere so that the photographs are equally at home in brochures, newspapers and magazines, annual reports, newsletters, online and a host of other uses.

Recent reportage photography commissions included a job at Durham's Gala Theatre, for Harlands Accountants. Another photography commission was in Middlesbrough Theatre documenting a stage dress rehearsal. All three clients had the same aim – to get a selection of good quality photos of events and performances that they can use to celebrate or publicise future events.

Middlesbrough’s Myplace centre provides leisure, social, advice and learning facilities for young people. The historic Custom House stands in the shadow of the Transporter Bridge over the Tees and has stood empty since the 1980s, but a £4m transformation by Middlesbrough Council has resulted in a world class youth facility and created a gift of a location for a photographer. The Council asked me to photograph the opening of the centre (pictured below), on North Street in Middlehaven, as well as library images of ‘feel good’ shots showcasing the refurbishment and the wide range of facilities, which young people helped to plan and design. 

Another commercial photography job with a completely different flavour was a VIP presscall and stakeholder event at Durham Tees Valley Airport. A large audience from Teesside and the surrounding area came together for the launch of the 'A world on your doorstep' marketing drive, to promote KLM’s three flights a day to Amsterdam and its connections from there to 80 destinations across the world.

My brief was to capture shots of the key speakers and circulate among the audience to get a set of photos that summed up the success of the event and could be used with press releases, online and in marketing materials. 

Every event demands a different focus, and for documentary photography the idea is to be unobtrusive and blend into the event, so I rarely use flash. I don’t want to get in the way of the action, particularly if I’m photographing key speakers on stage. I will often move around so people are comfortable seeing me before I pick up my camera and take a few shots. The only time I consider flash is if I have to photograph a big line up of people, say at an awards ceremony where I need more light, but even then I turn the setting to low light to minimise disruption.

At networking, or meet and greet, photography jobs I would use a wide angle lens and take long shots. The last thing people at a business event want is a camera in their face.

I enjoy being able to do things with today’s high-tech camera equipment that just were not possible five years ago. I’ve learned an awful lot in my 25+ years of professional commercial and PR photography in the North East & Scotland, and invested in thousands of pounds worth of gear because I want to get the best possible shot every time, for every client.

  

REFOCUS in Stockton on Tees, Cleveland | Freelance and Editorial Photography Coverage

As a North East freelance editorial photographer I am blessed with beautiful locations and landmarks, so it was a pleasure to be asked to photograph a stunning artwork created to celebrate Stockton and the surrounding area.

Arripare is a large scale photographic work styled around a mythical island, which shows an alternative version of some of our region’s best loved landmarks. Unveiled late last year, Arripare was the centrepiece for the launch of REFOCUS, the new biennial Castlegate mima Photography Prize.

Keen eyed visitors will spot many of Teesside’s best known sights in the 38-metre wide piece, which sits on the outside of Stockton’s Castlegate Shopping Centre. Renowned international artist Gayle Chong Kwan created Arripare by focussing on Stockton on Tees photographic landmarks and scenes taken from around the region, including Stockton, Thornaby, Norton, Yarm, Seal Sands, Billingham and Ingleby Barwick. 

She then used a combination of documentary photography, collage and sculptural construction around Stockton to create this amazing piece of work that is constructed to encourage the viewer to see the island as either sitting in the clouds or out to sea. I made several visits to Arripare, to make sure I covered all the angles and in a range of light conditions. Close up, it is full of vivid colours, with extra tiny details becoming apparent at every 

viewing.

It’s an amazing piece of work from any angle, and I photographed it from the Millennium Bridge,Riverside Road and the River Tees. Using my monopod allowed me to shoot it from low and high angles, some of which would have been inaccessible without the monopod.

The resulting set of photos are being used on large format display boards, in marketing literature and press articles and on a range of online sites.

I also covered the official launch in October, which was held at Joe Rigatonis behind Castlegate Shopping Centre, and saw a number of speakers praise Arripare and welcome the effect it will have on tourism.

The launch was a packed event, drawing Journalists, video journalists and photographers from the Middlesbrough Gazette, the Darlington Northern Echo, TFM radio and other media, all as keen as me to get the best shots. I was pleased to be the only North East editorial photographer allowed to go out on a river boat on the River Tees with Gayle and a video news cameraman, and we got some unique shots.

If you get the chance do go along and view the piece and see how many local sights you recognise - it is well worth the trip and really cements Stockton’s position as a thriving arts scene.

Darlington Commercial and Food Photographer | The Tuns, Sadberge - Website, PR and Marketing Package.

My commission to photograph The Tuns pub at Sadberge near Darlington and produce a range of commercial photographs suitable for PR and marketing came about via colleagues PR expert Anna Addison from Stokesley and web guru Alan Foster, based in Newton Aycliffe & Gateshead. 

Last year we joined forces (Ignite Media NE Link) to offer small and start up businesses a complete photography, PR and website service, and The Tuns job came about through that route.

A Grade II listed building standing on a busy corner of the pretty village of Sadberge, The Tuns was re-launched just before Christmas 2013 by its present owners, following a six-month refurbishment.

Landlord Ross Serino, whose family run the popular Santoro’s restaurant in Yarm, presides over a team working hard to create a friendly, traditional village pub atmosphere, serving delicious food made with local ingredients.

My job was to use my decades of press and PR photography experience in the North East to capture the clean, contemporary look of the interior, complete with its cosy woodburning stoves and gleaming, well-stock bar, and of course the much-praised menu.

Food photography, especially when you are doing it ‘live’ in the busy kitchen, is tricky, and you need to work quickly and with confidence. Head chef Helen Todd from Darlington made it look effortless as she kept service running smoothly while I darted round the kitchen taking close ups of delicious prawn towers, hearty pies and a range of mouth-watering desserts destined for the hungry diners.The dark colours and shiny textures of the mussels were probably my biggest challenge, but I was pleased with the results when I got back to my studio in Stockton to process hundreds of shots.

Outside the pub, some amazing chainsaw sculptures on the green, plus a clever pub sign designed to look aged and shot against the blue sky lent some atmosphere to the exterior photos and gave a real feel to the place.

I came away from the Tuns in Darlington, having created a photo library of the clean professional photographs that can be used for PR, in marketing materials, advertising and on new website, and which will stand the owners in good stead for some time to come. 

I was pleased to see my press photography coverage used by several local newspapers, including the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, Darlington and Stockton Times and the Northern Echo, who both gave the pub a glowing report (link). It was good to see a formerly neglected pub given a new lease of life, and I’m sure Ross, his partner Becka and his family will make sure the ‘new’ Tuns will become an essential part of local life.

North East Architectural Photography: Hospice in Sunderland, Newcastle Police Station to the Redcar Beacon.

My job as a North East commercial and PR photographer takes me all over the region, and every day brings new challenges, whether it’s photographing celebrities and community champions, or buildings and businessmen.

A lot of my time this month has been spent photographing Teesside landmark buildings and construction projects, and one of the first jobs was a commission from the construction company that built the £1.6m Beacon at Redcar, a structure that has sparked a love-hate relationship with locals. I like the building, it adds a splash of colour and forms a focal point for the town. Dubbed the ‘vertical pier’, the Beacon is part of a multi-million pound redevelopment of Redcar seafront, which is now unrecognisable from a few years ago.

At 80ft tall, the cafe area and open roof terrace at the top of its seven floors offers fantastic view over the coastline and surrounding area and a clear day presented me with some amazing photo opportunities. As well as the exterior, which is wrapped in coloured steel and mesh strips, I spent some time photographing the business space and meeting and conference areas that all reflect the Beacon’s clean, modern principles.

One of the biggest challenges of architectural photography is to keep the vertical lines as true as possible. Wide angle lenses give great results but can twist a perfectly straight vertical into convex or concave lines. I use a combination of special lenses and image manipulation software to correct this, which means lots of work back at my Stockton studio.

Another architectural job saw me photographing the opening of the new garden at St Benedict’s Hospice in Ryhope, Sunderland. This is the city’s first purpose-built hospice, and the construction firm has used lots of wood and textured materials, adding a roof garden and lake area which all combine to create a calm and welcoming environment for staff and patients. 

I was pleased to be asked to photograph the ‘old meets new’ architecture of Newcastle’s newest police station at Forth Banks, which is part of the regeneration of the Stephenson Quarter. A sensitive new structure links Kings House with an historic railway warehouse, creating a state of the art 24/7 police station, and is a fine example of how to integrate old and new buildings successfully.

I’m lucky that my job allows me to be out and about with my camera photographing North East architecture; whether it’s an iconic structure or an undiscovered gem, each has its own story.

A commission to photograph the demolition of the Spotted Cow pub in Stockton, the first stage of the re-building of the Victoria Estate behind Stockton High Street and the splash pool, threw up an interesting tale.

As I worked I got chatting to the man operating the wrecker, who told me his dad had planted the surrounding trees when the estate was built 50 years ago, so we were both pleased to find they would be staying in place when 210 homes are built and the old site is transformed. 

Successful architectural photography often depends on sun and weather conditions, and I’m a big fan of an app that tells me where the sun will be at any given time, so I can plan the shoot knowing that I’ll be photographing the building at the best time for the right light conditions. 

Sometimes the weather is against me though, and if the deadline allows I might decide to revisit the site - I want every single picture I take to be original and pleasing to the client, and I won’t rest until all the right circumstances are lined up to create the best possible image, whether it’s for use in print, outdoor or online media.