May
I have photographed in care homes and hospices across the country. I always come away feeling positive because of the incredible work of the carers. The emotional relationships they have with residents cannot be underestimated.
The government claims it put a protective ring around such homes from the start and that the majority are coronavirus free. Statistics seem to show differently. The number of deaths attributed to this time along with staff absence because of coronavirus, places a serious question on why there has not been more testing in the care sector? With more testing it would be possible to build a picture of how far and how quickly the virus is spreading, enabling the possibility of being able to prevent it from spreading so rapidly.
On Friday I will be attending the funeral of my uncle who contracted the Coronavirus whilst at a care home. Amongst the restricted number of guests will be his carer.
Every Thursday I am proud to support our key workers, dedicated carers, and staff across the NHS.
May
Racing is the combination of a team of people, the creativity and skill of the driver, and the technology behind the car. It’s not just the driver. It’s an engineering race. The Renault F1 Team knows this as well as anyone. As a technologically innovative powerhouse, they understand the role technology plays in completing their mission. They understand even better that it’s not the technology alone that leads to championship-winning teams: it’s technology under the power of people.
It takes a dedicated team to produce a winning Formula One car, from Renault’s Enstone and Viry-Châtillon Technical Centres to the track. The thousand-strong team is constantly exploring how to push the limits of engineering, making cars faster and more reliable than ever. Each piece of information is imperative to understand the dynamics of the car and transform these forces into performance.
Last year I was assigned by Microsoft to photograph how they are working with Renault F1 in the technology race of data for pole position.
Every time Renault F1 Team drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon get behind the wheel, more than 200 sensors collect over 50 billion data points that help the technical staff improve aerodynamics, performance, and handling. But one of the most vital sources of data isn't a sensor or computer. It's the human behind the wheel, whose point of view provides valuable information on how the car is performing and behaving; something that a sensor can’t communicate to the engineers.
The team must be able to trust the data they receive, analyse it, and visually interpret it in the most efficient way. Microsoft technology such as Azure Batch, artificial intelligence tools, and HoloLens, can help filter through each valuable piece of information—whether it’s human feedback or data generated by sensors—to create that competitive edge and help Renault F1 Team continue to vie as a credible championship contender.
The team is running thousands of digital scenarios with Azure Batch in order to improve modifications, pit stop tactics and more. The scalability of the cloud enables the team to these scenarios in minutes, reducing costs where previously it would have taken hours on-premise.
Renault is also using artificial intelligence (AI) to find insights from the billions of data points it generates every race. Azure Machine Learning can search the data for anomalies, allowing engineers to spend more time on innovation.
Renault is also using artificial intelligence (AI) to find insights from the billions of data points it generates every race. Azure Machine Learning can search the data for anomalies, allowing engineers to spend more time on innovation.
The team has already gone from placing ninth in 2016 to sixth in 2017, and after this year’s seasons, ranked fourth. Pierre d’Imbleval, Renault Sport Racing chief information officer, is confident that the use of technology will help the team improve further.
“We are at the top of the midfield. What will change the game is how we embrace technology that makes us even more efficient. It’s about being smarter in the way we work.”
May
Energy company Drax Group is helping more than 170 small care homes by cancelling their gas and electricity bills for two months during the Covid-19 crisis.
I have been working with Vismedia to supply photography, film and 360 degree content to DRAX in support of their marketing material. I have photographed gas-fired power stations in England and hydro-electric power stations in Scotland.
Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future and in 2019 announced a world-leading ambition to be carbon negative by 2030.
All the care homes selected to receive the free energy are small businesses based in communities local to Drax’s operations across England, Scotland and Wales and are already supplied by Opus Energy and Haven Power – both part of Drax Group.
May
Farmers are essential workers. During this unprecedented time, they are still up at dawn to care for livestock, start seeds, make repairs and do everything else it takes to get food to market. Without their hard work and resourcefulness, our plates would be empty. A global pandemic underscores the vital importance of strong local food systems. Farmers around the world are facing new challenges and small farms are particularly vulnerable.
I have photographed every sort of farm, plus the people / farmers behind the farms that supply Sainsbury’s.
Sainsbury’s are working closely with farmers, growers and suppliers – in the UK and internationally – so that they can improve and reassure customers about product availability These are really challenging circumstances, constantly trying to balance the need to serve customers well, to keep shelves stocked and to help people get in and out of shops as quickly as possible.
I hope that the silver lining to all of this will be for people to place a greater value on what they eat, and more importantly, the people who go to extraordinary lengths to provide it.
