James Gourley Photography

25thirteen

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:56:00 GMT

Over the past few months I have been granted exclusive access to the Deputy Prime Minister's working life.

As the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg is one of the most influential men in government. With exclusive access, this photo essay documents many aspects of his political life, from travelling across the country on the campaign trail to heading meetings in his Whitehall office.

To see some of this project in exhibition, come to the London College of Communication on June 3rd from 6.30-9pm where there will be a private view of the final exhibition of the BA Photojournalism students work. For more information and to see examples of the other work on display go to http://25thirteen.co.uk

This year so far

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:26:00 GMT

I've been conscious that I have seriously neglected my website since the start of the new year and have finally decided to rectify this. Most of my time this year has been divided between shooting a large project (more news on this to come soon.) and finishing my degree. But inbetween these I have managed to shoot some other things, and in no particular order, here are some of my photos from 2013 so far.

Lady Thatcher's funeral procession goes down Fleet Street Alex Salmond answers questions during First Minister's Questions People dressed as Aliens pose on an Edinburgh tour bs during a photocall

Sarah-Louise Alexander poses with part of her project 'The German Shepherd' which features several life size cut outs of herself at the RSA in Edinburgh

Sofia Wang models Edinburgh Napier student Charlie Jennings' warrior-themed outfit at Craigmillar Castle A young boy admires Jason Hackenwerth's 'Pisces' balloon sculpture, which he unveiled at the Museum of Scotland A Sigur Rós fan rests her head whilst listening to a support act at the Brixton Academy.Dylan Thomas (7) waves a flag at a rally of the Fire Brigades Union outside the Scottish Parliament in HolyroodJónsi of Sigur Rós performing at the Brixton Academy.

Stay tuned for more exciting things from me.

New Zealand

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:00:00 GMT

A couple of days ago I posted my photographs from my time on a farm in New Zealand, now here are my photographs from the rest of my time in 'The land of the Long White Cloud'Thermal pool at Wai-O-TapuA Pied Stilt walking near geothermal pool at Wai-O-TapuA bench seen near a tree in 'Hobbiton'

Out on the farm

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:44:00 GMT

I recently got back from New Zealand, where I was lucky enough to spend some time on my uncles farm, here are some photos from my time out on the farm.Cutting the spine of a Mutton.Helping a stuck top dressing truck which had gotten stuck on the terrain.Treating a 'Maggotty lamb' which had maggots eating it's skin. If untreated it can lead to death. The raw flesh destroyed by maggots. My young cousin looking over the farm.Dosing the lambs and ewes with vitamins and anti worming medication.Oscar getting up close and personal. Whilst we were out there, they got a new border collie sheep dog puppy, 'Taz'.

Moldova and Romania

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:12:00 GMT

After leaving Transnistria we headed to Chisinau for a day before heading on one last overnight train to Bucharest before flying home on Saturday evening.I visited the Milestii Mici Winery on the outskirts of Chisinau. The largest wine collection in the world, I don't even really like wine, but it was worth a go in a country were good wine is cheaper than a bottle of ketchup (24lev vs 80 for ketchup)Wine tasting. Too much wine tasting.

At the border between Moldova and Romania the track gauge changes, so because it would be too much effort for us to simply get on another train, the entire train is lifted about 10 feet in the air, it's wheels are disconnected, slid away, and replaced by new wheels for the new gauge. SIMPLE.

The view from the back of our carriage after the rest of the train was detatched and left in Moldova. And finally, a few photographs from Bucharest.

The CEC Palace.

A statue of Roman Emporer Trajan, naked, holding a wolf with a snake body coming out of its head, designed to symbolise the birth of the Romanian nation after the Roman Empire merged with the tribes of Dacia, on the steps of the building formerly known as the Palace of the Post Office.A scene from inside a Romanian Orthodox Church in Bucharet.

Приднестровская Молдавская Республика (Transnistria)

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:30:00 GMT

After Odessa I headed on a relatively short train journey (only a few hours, compared to the others which were 12/13 hours) to the unrecognised breakaway republic of Transnistria (its official Anglicised name is Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica/PMR). As the train pulled up to Tiraspol (the capital) station we were quickly ushered off the train, it didn't take long to realise my group were the only people getting off.(Taken and developed using Instagram as I decided whacking out my 5dII would probably be a bad idea)

We were greeted by 'Tim', an American expat who claims to run the only hostel in Transnistria. He helped us through border control, which was easier said than done when one member of our party had drunk a bit too much and kept asking out the rather attractive border guard. We then headed to the hostel and settled in for the night.

The next day we went on a tour of the city centre, starting with a walk through the main park Pobedi Park which contans a fun fair with some very similar elements to the Pripyat fun fair next to the Chernobyl power plant, including this very familiar looking ferris wheel.

I was expecting Transnistria to be a timewarped Soviet throwback, much the same as the DPRK is, I was very much mistaken. Transnistria is a surprisingly modern 'country', it has had a 4g network longer than the UK, and has free Wi-Fi in almost every, bar and restaurant. Quite randomly Gareth (director of Young Pioneer Tours, the group that took me to the DPRK and here) and some others got stopped by a local journalist who realised they were speaking English and wanted to write an article, purely about the fact that people wanted to visit, which was pretty cool.

There are many building sites in Tiraspol as new projects are being constructed around the city.Like most markets, Tiraspol's had some products of questionable authenticity, including this beautiful hat. by B&G, ABCDEFGHIJKL. Workers tend to a garden near a statue of Alexander Suvorov on October 25th Street in the city centre.

On Wednesday we travelled to Transnistria's second city, Bendery. During the civil war with Maldova in 1991-92 Bendery was on the front line as it possesed a key bridge to Tiraspol, so was heavily damaged. Today all that remains of this is the main governement building in the centre of the city, which remains potholed with machine gun holes as a reminder to the war.

A gift shop in the main Russian Orthodox church in Bendery selling necklaces, drawings, and other bits and bobs.

It's probably fair to say you've had enough when even the TV is telling you to stop. Tiraspol Tim our expat guide, after enjoying a bit too much vodka.Women painting the base of a tree in Bendery in the early evening. A stray dog waits outside a supermarket hoping for generous people to give him some food.This innocuous looking building is home to the only two embassies in Transnistria, those of Abkhazia and South-Ossetia, two other independent former Soviet, and until recently, unrecognised states. South Ossetia and Abkhazia were unrecognised like Transnistria until the 2008 war involving Georgia and Russia, which led to the recognition of both of them by a small number of countries, including Russia.

On Thursday we headed by bus to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, which should have been a simple two hour bus journey. It wasn't. If you ever visit Transnistria make sure you register in Tiraspol, otherwise when you try to leave, you will likely get squeezed for a bribe, thankfully we had our trusty leader Gareth to sort us out.

Ukraine

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 05:17:00 GMT

After visiting Chernobyl, I visited a former Soviet Nuclear Missile Silo in the countryside approximately half way between Kiev and Odessa. This facility was orignally built in the 1960's to hold part of the Soviet Union's Nuclear deterrent, and remained an active station until 1991 when the Union collapsed. After this, the Ukrainian government decided that they would not remain a Nuclear power, but would maintain the silos as museum's to what could have happened.On the grounds of the Silo, many weapons carriers, armoured vehicles and decommissioned missiles remain.

The silo itself remains a Ukrainian military site, and is maintained by a small group of army personel inculding Sergei (pictured below), a former Red Army soldier who served in the silo for 25 years.

Sergei and two other officers would have been stationed underground in the Silo's control centre for up to 30 days at a time, spending their time either in the control room pictured, or below in a small living quarters which contained three bunks, a toilet, shower, hot plate, and TV.

The stairs looking up from the living quarters, up to the control room.This is the greatly publicised 'red button', it required two seperate keys to be turned on opposite sides of the room at the same time to activate, then this button and a matching one on the other console have to be pressed at the same time to confirm a launch. Obviously I was heartbroken it wasn't red.

After 30 days in the control centre, the three men would leave in a very small lift up to 20 metres below the surface (from fifty) where they would swap with another three man crew who would take over the role,Sergei walking along the long corridor 20 metres underground towards the lift that takes you down to the command module.

After returning back to Kiev, I stumbled across some interesting sites such as ball room dancing in an underpass.

(taken on my phone and developed on Instagram as I didn't have my SLR with me)

Later that night I stumbled across the totally not copyright infringing 'Fast Ducks' coffee car. My friend still managed to misread it as 'Fast Fucks' coffee, so maybe Starbucks don't need to worry about suing them.

On Sunday night I travelled to Odessa in Southern Ukraine on my way towards Transnistria (Predniestrian-Moldovan Republic) and spent the day wandering around the city's market.

A butcher feeds a stray dog some meat.A lady sells porn and condoms at a stand opposite a table selling kids toys.

Later I decided to head up to the famous Potemkim Steps, but got distracted by an adorable stray kitten (below), spent about 20 minutes tickling it and photographing it, then when back to the café I had left my bags in. I suck at travelling.

After wasting my day on kittens I got on another train to Tiraspol, where this post ends.

Chernobyl

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:39:00 GMT

On Saturday I had the opportunity to visit the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the Ukraine for a day, including time in the abandoned ghost town of Pripyat, as well as going up to the edge of Reactor Four. The Chernobyl disaster, and its long term effects is (in my opinion) one of the most well photographed events in history. So by no means are these supposed to be taken as a major project or anything similar, Here are some of my photos.

The radiation level oppostite reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear powerstation. The normal level for background radiation is around 0.23.

Before and after.This reading was taken from the ground of the fun fair in Pripyat. According to my guide, this part of the ground holds particularly high levels of radiation because the tarmac was very new when the explosion happened. The nuclear physicist visiting with me told me that being exposed to this level of radiation for three hours would amount to your annual safety limit for radioactive exposure in a UK nuclear powerstation. Being checked for radiation.The new sarcophagus for reactor four. It is due to be completed and fitted in 2015.

A statue of the angel Gabriel in the city of Chernobyl.

Republic of Ireland

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 22:04:00 GMT

I have recently returned from an 8 day holiday in the Republic of Ireland with my good friends Katy and Sara Linton, it consisted mainly of churches, pubs, and walking between the two.

Here are some of my photos, I may add more later, depending on whether or not my iPod which is storing the majority of them decides to start working again or not.

Pyongyang panorama

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:01:00 GMT

Today I made a panorama of the skyline of Pyongyang in North Korea from my first trip there in August 2011. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing! To see it nice and big click here.

Coldplay in Coventry

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:55:00 GMT

LaLast night (29/05/12) I shot Coldplay at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. I am quite a fan of Coldplay so I've wanted to shoot them for quite a long time, but have been put off by the heavy restrictions to photographers shooting them, after reaching an agreement with their management I was on my way to Coventry. I arrived at the venue nice and early to shoot the support acts, only to be told that wasn't allowed (for some unexplainable reason...) So I had to spend a couple of hours sat outside twiddling my thumbs, and watching the world go by.One man (not Rita Ora) getting himself in the party mood by dancnig outside the stadium whilst I waited. I had a quick look around the merchandise stands. I felt ripped off just looking at the price of this mug.

Finally we got our chance to go inside and shoot. I wasn't disappointed, right from the word go, fireworks, lasers, huge bouncy balls and tens of thousands of bits of confetti fired around the place. It all made for an exciting 3 songs.-Spot the most annoying hand ever.We weren't allowed to take photos of the band during this song, just the balls. Go figure.

This was by far my favourite gig shoot i've done so far. Great fun.

NOTICE- JUST LIKE ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE, THESE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COPYRIGHTED AND NOT TO BE COPIED, MANIPULTED, STORED, OR TRANSMITTED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF JAMES GOURLEY.

Brian Paddick

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:06:00 GMT

Before the recent London Mayoral election I had the opportunity to shadow the Liberal Democrat candidate, Brian Paddick for about 10 days whilst he fought to become the first Liberal Democrat mayor of London. It wasn't to be, and Brian eventually finished fourth to Boris, Ken and the Green party's Jenny Jones.

Here are some of my photos from my time with him.

Brian Paddick psoes for a portrait outside City Hall.

Brian gives an interview under the watchful eye of one of his media team (left) at the London Liberal Democrat's HQ in the Ministry Of Sound.Brian Paddick and the 'Hackeny Heroine' Pauline Pearce talk with a local woman about the London Riots in Hackney.Brian Paddick speaks with his Head of Communications after sparring with former Heavyweight Champion Derek Williams at the launch of his election manifesto.Queen guitarist Brian May speaks with Brian Paddick at the London Lib Dem's HQ at the Ministry of Sound about animal rights issues.Brian Paddick laughs before doing an interview with BBC London News in front of City Hall.Brian Paddick speaks with his campaign manager Alison at the campaign HQ in the Ministry of Sound.Brian Paddick walks out of changing rooms after launching his campaign manifesto.Brian Paddick and his proposed deptuy mayor Caroline Pidgeon speak in private outside City Hall.Brian Paddick and the 'Hackeny Heroine' Pauline Pearce share a moment outside a shop in Hackney.Brian Paddick holds a copy of his campaign manifesto at the launch.

Tough Mudder

Sun, 13 May 2012 23:57:00 GMT

On Saturday I travelled up to Boughton House in Northamptonshire to photograph the first ever UK Tough Mudder event. The event has been running for several years in the Untied States, and has now ventured over to the UK, which is ironic, as the event was devised by British Special Forces members.

The 12 mile course forces its competitors to face extreme obstacles which require extreme stamina, strength and most of all team work in order to conquer them. The 25 obstacles included freezing water, barbed wire, electric shocks, fire and more mud than you've ever seen before in your life. Here are some of my photographs.

I had an absolutely fantastic time shooting this, but if anybody knows the best way to clean cameras and lenses of dirt, please let me know.

North Korea

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:15:00 GMT

On Thursday I returned from two weeks away which included 8 days in the Democratic People's republic of Korea. I arrived on April 14th just in time for the biggest celebration in the nation's short history on the 15th for the centenary of its founder Kim Il Sung's birth.

During my time there I spent time in Pyongyang, Kaesong, Wonsan, and Hamhung. Here are some of my photographs.

A young child from the Dongmong cooperative farm near Hamhung pretends to look through binoculars at a group of western visitors. The Hamhung area has only been open to foreign visitors for approximately two years, so most locals have never seen foreigners.

A young boy and his father walk along a street in a residential area of the border city of Kaesong.

A young North Korean pretends to shoot at western visitors with a stick from near the Kumsusan palace of the Sun, where the DPRK's former leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie in permanent state.

A young North Korean girl looks around at the April Spring International Arts Festival in Pyongyang on April 15th.

A North Korean girl looks at western visitors during a band performance at the April Spring International Arts Festival in Pyongyang.North Korean Mig fighter jets flying over Pyongyang as part of a military parade on April 15th.Korean People's Army soldiers and sailors wave and celebrate on the back of army trucks as part of a military procession through the streets of Pyongyang.

North Koreans hold plastic flowers in preperation of a military procession through the streets of Pyongyang on April 15th in celebration of the centenary of Kim Il Sung's birth. Thousands of soldiers paraded through the streets of Pyongyang on the back of Army trucks on April 15th.North Koreans line a street in Pyongyang awaiting a military procession on April 15thA young girl sits next to a fountain on her phone clutching plastic Kimjongilias before a military procession on April 15th.North Korean sailors walking up steps to the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on April 15th to pay their respects to veterans ofthe anti-Japanese movement. A group of North Korean women dressed in traditional Korean dresses at the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery pay their respects at the tomb of Kim Il Sung's wife, Kim Jong Suk. A view of Kim Il Sung square from a boat on the Taedong river with the 105 storey Ryugyong hotel seen in the background.Young North Korean gymnasts perform at a show at the Pyongyang School Childrens Palace.Pyongyang citizens riding on a packed bus.

A man and young boy look at a statue depicting North Korean hardship at the Mansundae Grand Monument in Pyongyang.North Koreans show their glee after riding a ride at the Kaeson Youth Park in Pyongyang.

The Pyongyang skyline seen in a 30 second exposure from the Ryanggang hotel on the outskirts of the city. The red streak in the sky is Mars. The 105 storey Ryugyang hotel which is due to partially open this year. When construction started in 1987 it was supposed to open in 1989, but due to financial constraints after the collapse of the Soviet Union it remained uncompleted until 2008 when an Egyptian company continued work on it. The building is seen with a government slogan in the foreground which reads, 'The greatest respect to leader Kim Jong-Un' who succeeded after his father (Kim Jong Il) died in December last year.Two North Koreans pose for a photograph in front of a mural of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il surrounded by 'Kimilsungias' (pink flowers named after the DPRK's founder Kim Il Sung) and 'Kimjongilias'(Red flowers named after Kim Jong-Il) at a flower exhibition in Pyongyang on April 15th.

A group of North Koreans pose for a photograph infront of the Mansudae Grand Monuments, of Kim Il Sung (left statue) and Kim Jong-Il (right statue). Kim Jong-Il's statue was unveiled on April 14th this year, but Kim Il Sung's had been there since 1972. His statues head had to be changed to make Kim Il Sung seem older compared to Kim Jong Il, because his old head was of a young Kim Il Sung.A North Korean man and woman embrace at the Mansudae Fountain Park in Pyongyang. Public displays of affection are rare in North Korea. A North Korean soldier sits alone on a bench in the Mansudae Fountain Park in Pyongyang early in the morning. A man 'taps in' to a Pyongyang metro station using an electronically chipped payment card similar to the London Underground's Oyster card system. A young boy closes the doors of a Pyongyang metro carraige. The trains are second hand from East Germany where they used to run on the East Berlin metro during the Soviet era. A group of North Korean children playing on a wall in the eastern port town of Wonsan.A group of female North Korean soldiers walking along a highway between the town of Wonsan and the city of Hamhung. A man cycles with another man and a young boy on a highway between Pyongyang and Kaesong. It is not rare to see multiple people travelling on single bicycles in North Korea, as many people cannot afford their own.

A general view of the Taedonggang fruit farm on the outskirts of Pyongyang. Three men on a fishing boat in the East Sea off the coast of Hamhung. A woman walks through the desolate Hamhung countryside carrying hay on her head. Young children from the Dongmong cooperative farm laugh, run and hide at the sight of western visitors to the farm. The Hamhung area has only been open to foreign visitors for approximately two years, so most locals have never seen foreigners.

A group of North Korean army recruits laugh at a western visitor who greeted one of them. Young North Korean gymnasts pose for a photograph in the Hamhung main square, they reacted with joy at the sight of westerners, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing their photographs. They had been training for mass gymnastics performances such as Arirang. Young North Koreans practising mass gymnastics in Hamhung main square.A young child hides his face from the photographer with his dirty hands in the main square of Hamhung, where hundreds of North Koreans were practicing for mass gymnastic shows.A woman trains young North Koreans in the main square of Hamhung. A teacher helps young nursery school students during a dance recital for western visitors to the Kim Jong Suk nursery in Pyongyang,Young children playing in a room of the Kim Jong Suk nursery in Pyongyang, under the watchful eyes of the country's former leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. A group of North Korean women dressed in traditional korean dresses take shelter in the shade provided by a coach on a warm April afternoon.A young boy pleads with an angry motorist in Kaesong after a traffic collision between a motor bike and a bicycle. A female worker carrying a shovel at the Hungnam fertilizer complex looks at a group of western visitors. A North Korean soldier guards the DMZ at the joint security area of Panmunjom, South Korean soldiers can be seen filming visitors to the demilitarized zone from the southern part. A Republic of Korea outpost seen through a North Korean spotting scope just North of the DMZ. A World Food Program vehicle drives along a road in Pyongyang. The port city of Wonsan at night. The single light on the right is a mural to Kim Il Sung which remains lit at all times. A building in Hamhung seen during their annual air raid practise, in which all but a few of the citys lights are turned off and vehicles roam the streets playing revolutionary songs.

The same building in Hamhung seen just after the air raid practise finished. Hundreds of North Korean women seen crossing a bridge over the Taedong river in Pyongyang on April 16th on their way to a celebration in honour of Kim Il Sung's centenary which was celebrated with a three day national holiday.` Fireworks being launched from the Juche tower in Pyongyang to celebrate Kim Il Sungs centenary. A huge fireworks display in Pyongyang seen from a poorly lit street in the city.

If you're interested in travelling to North Korea I recommend doing so with Young Pioneer Tours. I have been with them twice now and both times have been absolutely brilliant.

International Pillow Fight Day

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:09:00 GMT

Yesterday (07/04/2012), hundreds of pillow enthusiasts gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square to smash the sense out of each other, all in honour of ‘International Pillow Fight Day’. The event (which has been running in London since 2010 and globally since 2008) is happening in dozens of cities world wide. Here are some of my photos from the feather filled event.

Wayward Daughter

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:10:00 GMT

On Tuesday (13th March) I was lucky enough to go to the Margate Winter Gardens to photograph Wayward Daughter (Becky East and Lydia McAllister) supporting McFly on their 'Keep Calm and Play Louder' tour. They've got a couple of songs on iTunes which I thoroughly recommend, and if you ever have a chance to see them live-Take it, you won't regret it!

I got there nice and early and took a few photos of the soundcheck.

And here are my photographs from their actual set.

I figured it'd be rude to travel all that way and not shoot McFly, so here are some shots of them doing their thing...

Comments appreciated!

The Proposal

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 22:01:00 GMT

Roger Taylor (37) organised a singing flashmob in Piccadilly Circus on Wednesday night to propose to his girlfriend Jeanie Jagpal (32) with a professional choir of around 100 singers and over 200 'facebook dancers' who sang 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You (I love you baby)' by Frankie Valli. Roger set up a secret event on facebook under the alias 'Romeo' to maintain secrecy. They met two years ago, Jeanie said yes. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen!

Here is a video of the brilliant event. Hopefully a higher quality one will be uploaded soon for your viewing pleasure, but this gives a oretty good idea of how awesome it was! (Not my video)

2011

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:33:00 GMT

For the past few weeks I've been looking through similar posts from many photographers going through their year in photographs, so I have decided to do the same.

After trawling through thousands of images I have settled on a final set of photos that I look back on with great fondness. I hope you like them too.

Thousands of spectators celebrate the marraige of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Trafalagar Square.

A model walks along the catwalk at the Jaeger show at Somerset House during London Fashion Week

A young child sits alone at the side of a main road in Pyongyang. I was on a bus at the time, waiting for the lights to change when somebody pointed out the girl sitting alone, with the other citizens just ignoring her and carrying on with their day. An isolated girl in an isolated country.

A police officer charges with his shield at protesters and myself during the TUC's 'march for the alternative' in London on March 26th.

Ed Miliband speaks to 'Yes to AV' campaigners at an event in Central London before the failed referendum.

Thousands of North Korean schoolchildren perform synchronised gymnastics as part of the Arirang Mass Games

A lone Manchester United fan sits on the base of Nelsons Column alongside celebrating Barcelona fans after the Champions League Final.

Two RAF Tornados and two RAF Typhoon jets fly over the Admiralty arch in London on the day of the Royal Wedding.

Competitors set off on the Cannock Chase 'Hellrunner' which sees the athletes tested against extreme obstacales.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg waves at Liberal Democrat supporters after giving his closing speech at the party's conference in Sheffield. Moments later we collided after a BBC crew got in the way a bit.

Julien Rath planks in front of an anti G8 demonstration in Le Havre, y'know, because...well why not?

A man cycles past a group of North Koreans sitting on the bank of the Taedong river opposite the tower to the Juche Ideology on a foggy August day.

A freerunner does a flip above the Southbank Centre in London as part of the 'Red Bull Art of Motion'.

A young child walks up to Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers at the London Toy Fair at the Kensington Olympia.

A man looks down the carriage of a Pyongyang Metro train which has the portraits of Kim Il Sung (left) and recently deceased Kim Jong-Il (right) above the door.

A boy looks over his sister as she takes a nap during the Royal Wedding in Trafalgar Square.

A roller blader skates in front of the National Gallery. A small protest was taking place in Trafalgar Square as a follow up to the March 26th March for the Alternative, one protester was using gaffa tape to write 'Lawful Rebellion' everywhere, but one tipsy man followed him around taking the L down which made me chuckle.

Anderw Lemoncello crouches down on the start line of the Bupa 10000 run in London.

North Korean children look out of the window of their school building at me after our group visited their class.

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot performing at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on the bands 'Vice Verses' tour.

International pillow fight day in Trafalgar Square.

That's about it from me for the year. I'll be back in 2012 with some (hopefully) interesting shots for you all.

Now go look at some better photos

Matt Dunham's 2011

Leon Neal's 2011

Joel Goodman's 2011

Jules Mattsson's 2011

Boston Globe's 'year in pictures' Part one, Part two and part three.

Merry Christmas and have a happy new year.

ALN

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:55:00 GMT

After one term working as picture editor of Arts London News I have given up the role (The project runs on one term cycles), and I am now back to living normal life, which involves heading back to work next week to earn some money!

Whilst I've got some free time I thought I'd upload some of the photographs I took whilst locked away in the ALN newsroom this term. Obviously they aren't the most exciting in the world, but hopefully they give a bit of an insight into what it's like working on a weekly newspaper (albeit a student one).

October, and the rest..

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:26:00 GMT

Since starting back on my degree in September I have been spending most of my time working as Picture Editor for Arts London News. ALN is the weekly newspaper operated by journalism, photojournalism and sports journalism students. at the London College of Communications Finding any time to get out shooting has been a massive challenge as I normally stay in the newsroom until around 7pm trying to ensure that when I arrive the next morning, the world hasn't ended. It's a fantastic learning experience, and I've had endless fun bossing around the team of photographers.

One of my first opportunities to escape the newsroom came at the beginning of October, with a UK uncut demonstration against proposed NHS reforms on Westminster bridge.

The idea was for thousands of protesters to suddenly play dead on Westminster bridge, blocking traffic, and highlighting their cause. Unfortunately for them the Police deprived them of the pleasure of blocking the bridge by closing it themselves, lining the Westminster side with a small army of officers prepared to hold back any attempts to get closer to the Houses of Parliament. The day was a photographic washout with seemingly more phtoographers than police and protesters combined covering the demo, all in all, it was one of the dullest afternoons I've had in a long while, with the only saving grace being selling the shot below to the Daily Telegraph and the i.

Just as some other photographers and I were planning our escape, somebody noticed a lovely cat leaning out of the Palace of Westminster, spying on the protesters below. This of course provided minutes of quality entertainment for us photographers. After some investigating I have learnt that the cat belongs to none other than John Bercow, who has a flat in the Palace.

Next up on my list of fun days out was the Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstration, designed as a sister campaign to the 'Occupy Wall Street' demonstration in New York. After another few hours running around the streets of the city trying to find an entrance into Paternoster Square the protesters shacked up outside St Pauls.

Not expecting the protesters to make it a full night outside St Pauls I waited for the impending police eviction, which after several hours of kettling almost came to fruition when around fifty TSG officers fought their way kicking and punching onto the steps of St Pauls, citing that they needed to protect the Cathedral. The police let them stay the night, and they have continued to occupy the square since then.

Moving forward to the end of the month I decided that on Halloween rather than follow the regular student tradition of dressing up like a scary drunk (or in my case last year, a drunk smurf) I would go out and photograph the fun. After strolling around for a couple of hours I quickly realised why more people didn't try it, and I made my way towards Charing Cross where I was confronted by streams of Police vans full of officers speeding down Whitehall. Now despite my wishes to catch my train and fall asleep quickly, I felt compelled to investigate.

As I approached Parliament I knew something odd was happening as hundreds of officers guarded the front of Parliament (slightly more than usual for 11pm on a Monday), I soon discovered there was a protest happening opposite Parliament, near College Green.

I investigated and discovered it was a demonstration against the proposed change to squatters rights. Around 200 people had arrived, catching everyone else unaware. When I approached one protester and asked why they were protesting here, when they knew that protesting outside Parliament without permission is an arrestable offence, I was greeted with the stock response of, "This is where it all happens, tomorrow the government will potentially destroy this democratic right". I understood why you'd protest outside Parliament, I just couldn't grasp why 11.30pm on a Monday night was their chosen timing.

Unsurprisingly I was the first member of the press on the scene and with only my 7D and plastic fantastic (50mm 1.8) I was challenged to try and get something worthwhile.

Long story short, the police warned the protesters that if they didn't leave they'd be arrested, many left, some didn't, the rest were arrested. Then I went home, through a combination of nightbus and taxi arriving in at 4.30, and filing before catching a glorious three hours sleep before my next full day in the newsroom.

Finally for this entry, I shot my first gig this year recently, Switchfoot at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire last week. I'd forgotten how easy it is to shoot ridiculous amounts of images in such a short amount of time (An overly generous 4 songs). It also made me really want to get a hold of some more primes, next on my shopping list is the 35mm f2, which unfortunately, nobody seem to have, so if you have one and want to sell it, let me know!

Comments appreciated!

Back from bedlam..

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:27:00 GMT

After spending two weeks in North Korea I'm back to the normal life of being a camera shop assistant. A few days after I returned the sky outside my house was lit up with one of the best sunsets I've seen in a long time. Even Watford can be beautiful some times...

Upon returning to work I was informed that employees of the shop had been invited by Canon to shoot a fashion show as part of London Fashion Week. Although this isn't something I'd normally do, I like to try shooting different things wherever possible, and I couldn't think of a better contrast to my recent work on North Korea than a lovely bit of western fashion.

It's not my most creative work, but I'm happy to say I've shot fashion week. Oh and I almost forgot to say, the shots are from the Vodafone/Jaeger show at Somerset House.

Comments welcome!

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:41:00 GMT

During August I spent 10 days in the Hermit Kingdom that is North Korea. I'm a firm believer that pictures speak better than words, so here are some photographs from my tour of the country, whose citizens have 'Nothing to Envy'.

A lone child sits in a field next to his goat in the North Korean countryside.

A shot of Pyongyang at night. The bright part is Kim Il Sung square, where there are often military parades.

An apartment building that they forgot to finish before letting people move in. Note the woman top and centre. People in North Korea are assigned a home by the government, but they aren't promised any sort of luxery.

A man runs across the main road leading through Kim Il Sung Square, on videos of military processions this is the road which has thousands of soldiers goose stepping, and marching alongside tanks. But on a normal day, it's virtually silent as there are so few cars in the city.

A North Korean child looks up at me with confusion.

A Pyongyang commuter looks down a metro carraige, away from the ever present stare of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong-Il. This train was specially arranged for us and the carraige was completely empty when it arrived at the station for us. Note that the next carraige doesn't have Kim portraits.

A group of female North Korean soldiers look into a baboon enclosure at Pyongyang central zoo.

A group of men sit on the steps of the Taedong river, opposite the tower to the Juche Ideology, which is less than a metre taller than the Washington Monument. True story, there is a gift shop in the base of the tower in which you can buy idelogical books, traditional North Korean gifts and Coca Cola. Apparently the irony that having one of the biggest capitalist products in the world for sale in a tower devoted to praising a 'Self-reliant North Korea' was lost on them.

Soldiers from both North and South Korea patrol the DMZ at Panmunjom, two days after the two countries exchanged artillery fire. Visitors are normally permitted to go inside the left blue U.N building and technically cross to the other Korea by crossing the DMZ, but South Korean soldiers locked us out.

A group of nursery children look out of a window at western tourists. We had just spent 15 minutes watch these children sing revolutionary songs in the nursery's Kim Jong-Il room - A dark room with walls painted to look like Mt Paektu (Where Kim Jong-Il was born, according to North Koreans, but not according to facts), These children had been brought in specially for us as it was the summer holidays.

A group of North Korean teenagers relax in Moranbang Hill in Pyongyang on August 15th, otherwise known as Korean Liberation Day. It is the only public holiday that both the North and South share, and it commerates the peninsula's liberation from the Japanese after World War II. This photograph is one of my favourite from the trip, as it surprised me most for many reasons

-The fact only one of the girls is wearing a Kim Il Sung badge, a rare occasion in North Korea,
-The clothes they are wearing are bright and colourful, not like the usual dull tones of North Korean fashion.
-The mobile phones, camcorders and cameras being used by the girls is a VERY rare sight in the DPRK, where consumer technology is sparse.
-The peace face two of them are pulling is the same face that 99% of Asian teenagers pull for photos, the fact that they know this means that some culture is seeping in. Maybe just for the top end of this closed country, but it's a start.

The last group of shots are from the Arirang Mass Games. The most amazing performance I've ever seen- Just imagine the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, but better.

May/June

Thu, 26 May 2011 12:19:00 GMT

As I said in my last post, I will try to use this blog to write about my experiences shooting on a monthly basis.

I'm going to stretch it a bit for this last month as it's the first post, so I'll start with late April, and one of the biggest news stories of the year- The Royal Wedding. As thousands of journalists from around the world flocked to London to capture every angle of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, I was left in a difficult position, try and get a shot of the wedding party (Which will inevitably be worse than someone with better kit/position than me) or try to capture a different angle of the big day. I voted to photograph the crowds in London for the day.

So after heading into town for about nice and early to shoot the early birds on Whitehall and near the Abbey, I headed towards Trafalgar Square, where thousands of people had gathered to watch the wedding on big screens. The mood was electric hours before Kate got to the abbey, the voice of Huw Edwards apparently just got everyone excited. By the time the wedding had started I was beginning to struggle to get any interesting shots, and it was driving me insane, the best I could muster was the shot below. Although saying that, It's one of my favourite photographs in a long time, the juxtaposition of the sleeping girl and the overly excited royal fan. I think I managed to capture a unique perspective on the whole experience which I was pretty happy about.

Then of course, some people got married and the crowd got excited, and went on to get suitably drunk for the rest of the day

Then to May. It's been an interesting one, I started the month covering a few 'Yes to AV' events, and ended it in Le Havre covering a G8 demo.

May 5th was the day that some people hoped to chance the voting system to the Alternative Vote, these people included people such as Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and most importantly Eddie Izzard. As one of my favourite comics, I jumped at the opportunity to shoot him at the AV events. It made watching endless video messages from random celebs worth it to spend a few minutes photographing one of my favourite people. Does that make me weird? Maybe it does.

Then, a few weeks ago, I found an event online which made my heart leap. The London Pet show. I am a massive animal fan, so spending a day taking photos of adorable kittens, dogs, rabbits, a couple of (not so adorable) rats, and some other things was pretty super.

There's not a massive amount to say about the day. It's all pretty self explanatory, cute animal=photo op. A

nimal with adorable child looking on in awe=also a photo op.

Last weekend I went on a short trip over the channel to Le Havre where 10,000 angry europeans were expected to protest the G8 which is happening in nearby Deauville this week, but as it turned out there were about 4-5000 relatively peaceful people (despite the best efforts of the megaphone weilding anarchists who repeatedly chanted 'we're the anarchists, where is the riot?').

so I spent a couple of hours touring the streets of Le Havre shadowing a suspicious looking bunch of anarchists waiting casually for the first stone to be thrown. It wasn't until the protest had completely looped round the city and returned to the street where it began did the anarchists notice some high street banks, which they decided to smash up a bit. After doing a fair bit of research on previous G8 demonstrations and other assorted French demonstrations. I was expecting overturned cars, mass hysteria and a scene of general messiness, but it wasn't to be.

Once the group had passed the nice looking shops and burnt out a few wheely bins they calmed down, until a group of undercover officers attempted to arrest one of the trouble makers. This resulted in a fairly violent scuffle which prompted the French police to load their tear gas launchers and bring out the long shields.

This is where I thought it would turn into what I'd seen on youtube, but, at the last minute the french police decided to hold off and let the protesters calm themselves down, which they did. The protesters went home, and then, so did the police, and finally, so did the photographers.

This week brought the state visit of President Obama, cue another media/security frenzy around London. I decided to cover a 'Muslims against Crusades' demonstration being held opposite Downing St on Whitehall.

After 15 minutes of watching them chanting 'Long live Osama' and 'Freedom, go to hell!' I decided to take a walk around Whitehall and see what else was going on. It was as I was walking back to the protest when I noticed a car at the side of the road with its hazard lights on, almost at the same moment a passing policeman noticed it aswell, I took a quick glance in the back seat, saw a backpack, and with the recent Irish bomb threat, the MAC chanting death to the UK, and that the leader of the free world was due to drive 100 yards away in 20 minutes I made the assumption it could have been a bomb. I could tell the officer made the same assumption as me, as he noticed the bag he took a few steps back before radioing it in.

Fortunately for everyone, the car owner turned up about five minutes later and started pleading with the officer, who proceeded to spend the next ten minutes rightfully bollocking him.

I then went off and took some photos of Obama's never ending motorcade arriving at Buckingham Palace, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to get any shots of him in person this time round, but there's always next time!

On to June!

New site.

Fri, 20 May 2011 12:20:00 GMT

As followers of my work (If there are any) will know, for the past few months my old website has been neglected while I invested some hours into polishing this new site. Hope you like it! I will try to post monthly blog posts about all the fun things I've done. If I fail it'll be because I'm too doing many amazing shoots/not enough to talk about!

Below is a copy of my old homepage, if you ever want to look back and see how far this site has come...