Alex Black Photography

Dusting the blog off…

Alex — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:48:07 +0000

Catch Up…

Alex — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:07:54 +0000

I’ve been really busy with the redevelopment of two of my sites and am in the process of writing my marketing plan for 2009. A big project concludes this week and then it’s on to finishing the websites. Been on the road a lot of late, the above is the parcel shelf view of the new SatNav system for the car. It’s a Garmin Nuvi 765T, I highly recommend the Garmin if you’re shopping for an in-car GPS.

I always like to see images shot back home in Zimbabwe and I was idly paging through PDN when I recognised Victoria Falls in the shot below (© Desre Pickers). I know exactly how it was done and the exact location but credit where it’s due, it’s well staged and a great image.

In other news, the Right Guard campaign I shot and produced for DDB London in conjunction with Yahoo! and BMG Records won gold at last week’s DMA awards. Congratulations and big props to Dan, Andy and Guy. I’ll post some of shots I did for The Guillemots as part of that campaign as well. Funny thing, I’ve actually become a fan of their music having heard them for the first time at the shoot.

I also found out that Agency Republic’s Mercedes A-S site (I shot a number of still life images for it) has won yet more awards and is to be featured in a masterclass book published by Taschen entitled ‘Guidelines for Online Success’.

LCC MA 2008

Alex — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:16:21 +0000

I went along to the private view of the London College of Communication’s 2008 MA in Fine Art Photography tonight. Too tired to venture opinions on the work but a good standard and some interesting subject matter. Take a look at an extract on the website: http://www.map2008.co.uk/

It runs from Wednesday 26 November-Friday 28 November, 10.00am-5.00pm and continues to Saturday 29 November, 10.00am-4.00pm.

Trench Warfare

Alex — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:06:54 +0000

Spiegel Online produced a really interesting gallery entitled ‘The World of Trench Warfare in Color’ featuring the work of Hans Hildenbrand, a German photographer commissioned by the Kaiser to document the war.

One of the things that struck me was that they are among a very limited number of photographs I’ve ever seen of the ‘great war’. Much of our visual memory of the first world war is informed by the stark aesthetic of black and white, we’re almost conditioned to expect imagery of the period to be monochromatic. I’m glad I found these.

November Days

Alex — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:19:22 +0000

It’s been a busy past week or so hence the paucity of posts. The inclement weather has dulled my senses but salvation is always at hand with a bit of Paul Simon.

Have you got my best side?

Alex — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:15:16 +0000

I’ve been putting together a custom book of work for an art buyer to pitch and I’ve included a few shots I took of some of the management executive at London advertising agency, J Walter Thompson late last year. Included below are a few reference shots.

Tallulah

Alex — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:48:52 +0000

Shooting children outside of a studio environment can be challenging - apart from the fact that there is more space to roam, there are a plethora of things to distract. That said, Tallulah (pictured below) was a superstar.

On a technical note, I shoot and edit to Adobe ‘98 but have to save to sRGB for web, both shots have lost a subtle degree of tonal range and luminosity in the conversion. I think I’ll include both images as singles in my folio so will post properly corrected versions in tandem with the launch of my new site.

Going to the Chapel…

Alex — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:52:36 +0000

I did a favour for a friend of mine and photographed his wedding last weekend. It’s the first wedding I’ve ever agreed to shoot, I usually mine my rich seam of excuses or book a flight out the country under ordinary circumstances.

I’m pleased with how the shots have come out and I was fortunate that my ‘crew’ of ushers were efficient at queuing people against the formal shot list. I don’t think they were prepared to be presented with walkie talkies to help facilitate this though but set about their task with gusto.

I prefer the spontaneous nature of reportage, as a style it has much greater authenticity.

The Official Taster

Alex — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:31:20 +0000

I had a relaxed shoot yesterday afternoon, a friend who is a professional pastry chef and striking out on her own asked me to give her a hand shooting a selection of her work for a magazine feature and PR usage. Poppy (pictured above) was on hand to inspect everything coming out of the kitchen and ensured that stringent standards were maintained.

Richard Misrach & Joel Sternfeld

Alex — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:05:35 +0000

While the names in the title are completely unrelated in the context of this post, I’ve a couple of worthwhile links to share.

Richard Misrach, author of ‘On the Beach‘ in conversation courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago.

I was also drawn in (yet again) by an alluring sales email from Steidlville advertising Joel Sternfeld’s simply beautiful Oxbow Archive. There is an online gallery of images available at the Luhring Augustine Gallery in NYC.

Need to find a bigger apartment soon, to stop buying exquisite, inspirational books is not an option.