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.
Nov
The SIPA Awards are a celebration of photography where Siena becomes the heart of the festival during October and November. The event is organised into personal and collective exhibitions, workshops, seminars and conferences. After five years Luca Venturi has created one of the most important international photography contests in the world. The SIPA Awards provide a unique opportunity for photographers to share their creativity and knowledge with likeminded photographers.
I was asked to speak at the Sipa conference along with six other distinguished photographers. The conference was held in the University of Siena with an audience of 200. I spoke alongside fellow speakers, Mary Calvert (documentary photographer), Philip Coburn (Editorial Photographer), Florian Ledoux (Nature and Wildlife Photographer), Alessio Paduano (Editorial Photographer), Hannes Lochner (Wildlife Photographer) and Constanza Portnoy (Documentary Photographer).
The conference had an overall title of “The Storytelling Power of Photography” and the talks included human impact in the environment, new ways of approaching journalism, social justice in photography, the coverage of migration issues, modern ways of storytelling, ethical storytelling and more.
I spoke about the challenges of being a humanitarian photographer. I recognise the confines of my working practice, being impartial within photojournalism / humanitarian photography, being commissioned by charitable organisations to produce images that are positive to their efforts and balancing my charitable photography with commercial photography. The tiresome debate over the politics of photography is in danger of overshadowing the real challenges of making a difference.
I also sat on the panel for a question and answer session. The conference was attended by captains of the industry and students of photography. It was great to be part of Luca’s vision of sharing photography with the world.
Thanks to Mario Llorca for the photos.
For more details about the conference check out SIPA Awards
Oct
The SIPA Contest is so much more than just photography awards. It is a festival of events for creatives to network and connect. When Luca Venturi (creator and artistic director) first imagined the festival, he set his target on making Siena the heart of the photography world that would bring photographers together from around the world.
“We are happy to have created a large family, a community with photography at its centre, as a form of international language that connects people of every culture and social background. A dream come true, supported by partners and institutions that together with us continue to invest in the power of imagination and the power that images have to be able to tell stories full of meaning " – Luca Venturi
In addition to the Awards ceremony there are a number of events over the course of the weekend for the photographers to participate in – most of them involve a glass of wine or two! I was asked to speak at the SIPA conference along with six other distinguished photographers who I now count as friends. The conference was held in the University of Siena with an audience of 200. I spoke alongside fellow speakers –
Mary Calvert (USA)- Documentary Photographer - maryfcalvert.com
Philip Coburn (UK) – Editorial Photographer - Philip Coburn LinkedIn
Florian Ledoux (France) – Nature and Wildlife Photographer - www.florian-ledoux.com
Alessio Paduano (ITA) – Editorial Photographer - www.alessiopaduano.it
Hannes Lochner (ZA) – Wildlife Photographer - www.hanneslochner.com
Constanza Portnoy (AR ) – Documentary Photographer - www.constanza-portnoy.com
The conference had an overall title of “The Storytelling Power of Photography” and the talks included human impact in the environment, new ways of approaching journalism, social justice in photography, the coverage of migration issues, modern ways of storytelling, ethical storytelling and more.
The exhibition was officially opened by me at the Ex Distillery Lo Stellino along with the launch of this years “Beyond the Lens” book featuring all the winning photographs. The exhibitions are one of the Festival’s main events, hosted by the most important locations of Siena. The exhibitions will run until Sunday 1 December.
