Mar
I was a Winner at the 14th Annual “International Color Awards” with an Honorable mention in the “People” category for my picture photographed for Farm Africa in Tanzania. I also picked up three further nominations in other categories all presented on Saturday 27th March 2021 in the annual online Photoshow.
The live online gala was attended by industry leaders and the photography community from around the globe who logged on to watch the climax of the world's premier event for color photography. This year the competition received 6,109 entries from 73 countries.
I photographed the three traditionally dressed ladies in Babati, the Nou Forest area of Tanzania whilst on assignment for Farm Africa. We were covering an initiative that aimed to introduce more profitable and sustainable enterprises.
www.farmafrica.org
INTERNATIONAL COLOR AWARDS is the leading international award honoring excellence in color photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the best professional and amateur photographers worldwide and honors the finest images with the highest achievements in color photography. www.colorawards.com
Mar
My photograph “Waiting to Perform” of a traditional West African dancer in Liberia is featured in Rangefinder Magazine as “Photo of the Day”.
I work with corporate clients, in editorial, and for various charities. One of the charities that I support is International Alert, a peace building organisation that works with people directly affected by conflict to build lasting peace.
I was asked to document their work in Liberia, where they had been working since 1993. Liberia, and the Mano River Region in West Africa more broadly, had experienced civil war for many years, and International Alert supported various programmes to build stability and long-term peace. These included community radio stations, dialogues between local leaders, initiatives to promote greater security and a political voice for women, and festivals to celebrate peaceful co-existence and mutual respect between the different cultures of the region.
The festivals attract an audience from far and wide, with an attendance that grew rapidly from year to year. These festivals brought together people from the region’s many diverse ethnic groups, providing a wonderful opportunity to re-establish harmony between different cultures: diversity in and unity in diversity.
Rangefinder is an award-winning brand for professional photographers that first launched as a magazine in the early 1950s.
Sep
Not every assignment has me photographing a research project that is developing a revolutionary approach to an ever-increasing requirement with a sustainably responsible solution. Not every assignment is on the coast in a beautiful part of the world. Not every assignment has me working alongside extremely talented and creative individuals (and teams), that are appreciative of myself.
Microsoft Project Natick was all the above and more. We were working out at sea, on the dock side and in an energy park, on the Orkney Islands and mainland Scotland.
Microsoft assigned Photobanks to capture the retrieval of the underwater datacentre and data analysis with stills photography, drone, and film. Do not get me wrong this was not all plain sailing. Logistically we were at the mercy of the weather, there were major travelling and working challenges to overcome with the current pandemic, and technically this was extremely difficult to capture; flying a drone from a boat out at sea, photographing inside the vessel with a portable flash system and filming interviews on the key side in between ferry horns, seagulls and fishermen.
However, despite all these niggles, I returned to the Airbnb every evening throughout the shoot thinking … I love my job.
To read about the project and see the photos, film and drone pictures –
Sep
Two years ago, Microsoft approached me for an assignment in Orkney Scotland, to photograph the deployment of Project Natick, an underwater datacenter. Frustratingly I had to decline because I was due to have a minor operation a couple of weeks before.
In June I was contacted with the news that Microsoft would be retrieving the vessel shortly and would I be able to capture it? They had me at “Orkney”!
Project Natick is Microsoft’s research into the feasibility of an underwater datacenter – it’s a pretty far out concept to begin with, but the more you learn about it the more you begin to see the genius behind it.
A sealed vessel on the ocean floor does not have any of the issues that the equivalent land datacenter does, with corrosion from oxygen and humidity, temperature fluctuations, and bumps plus jostles from technicians who monitor and replace broken components.
Project Natick also supports Microsoft’s sustainability goals with the vessel in Orkney consuming no water for cooling and being powered by renewable energy sources.
I worked with Spencer Fowers and Mike Shepperd, alongside the Natick team and Microsoft News, with Photobanks supplying all the photography, film and drone photography.
To read more about Project Natick check out
https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-underwater-datacenter/
