Category Archives: portrait
A cat is for life, not just for Christmas
Dear Santa…..
Hair, kitty kitty…hair kitty….
Ok so today was my first introduction to the hairless cat. The Sphynx. I was looking forward to meeting one, and finally I did. I met Jack. Jack appeared out of the folds of the duvet and was immediately all over me. Friends….he purred. Lifelong friends. His character made up for his lack of coat and I have to admit there was something rather pleasing about stroking him. Sort of grippy, not greasy, not repulsive, just warm and friendly. Even his pal Bus took a liking to me. Bus was hidden even further within the folds of their luxury bedding, and appeared with a cute tank top. I was actually quite a fan of these remarkable and striking pieces of feline architecture.
The editing process has not really begun on the shoot, but I knew when I took this shot that I wanted to see it. I knew it worked. Last pic of the day is usually a winner. Just when I’m getting my eye in and when the cats are beginning to understand…we call it a wrap. 9 times out of 10 my camera comes back out of the bag when I have packed it away, because most cats think this is the purrrrrfect time to really begin to show me what they are all about.
So, I leave you with Bus.
Singapura ‘sprung’
The springiest and most delightfullest of little breeds. I love this cat.
Welcome to America
My arrival in America has gone somewhat smoothly, although not without its challenges. The flight from London Heathrow into JFK all but empty, I bag four seats all to myself. Good food, good entertainment, some carefree creative editing, a glass of wine, a nap (horizontal, of course). I land, cruise through American Citizen channels with American passport to hand, and collect bag which awaits patiently on the carousel. I collect my hire car (third attempt after realising I had forgotten to print out the rental voucher which tells me which company I had booked with), realise out my Spanish maps are still on my TomTom and therefore proceed to navigate confidently yet somewhat naively through a ton of spaghetti junctions, ending up on freeways heading East to Long Island, West to the Bronx, and finally North to Westchester County on the VanWyck Freeway where I am supposed to be…realising at that point that my black impossible-to-see-in-the-dark Chrysler is even more well-disguised without the beams on. Oops. It’s only 10pm local time but it feels like more than the 3am it is back home.
My first day is broken in gently with a romp through the wilderness on horseback courtesy of my wonderful hostess, Nicki. We get a good gallop through post-hurricane-tree-fallen woodland, and a stomp about in the cold-but-sunny winter’s morn before I head off to meet the Savannah cat. The Savannah cat who gives me a welcome that I will never forget. We take a while to bond…or so I think. Only at the end of the shoot do we realise that the cat had marked its territory and peed not only on my scarf, but also IN my peli case…
Here is the culprit. I shall entitle this top picture “Happy Hour”.
I was looking for a cow
This is Chris and he lives in Alderney. He caught my attention the other evening whilst I was on a mission to find some cows…who had disappeared by the time I reached their field, thanks to the distractions I found in my path. Chris is a sweet natured ex racehorse, who loves to gallop and race around his field, and admire the world going by from his cliffside retreat.
I’m not sure what I’ll do with Chris. I might print him, I might save him. We’ll see. I think he needs to be big, perhaps a big canvas, with a big rustic frame? Any suggestions welcome.
Reminiscing about Jorge and Tito the Pomeranian
Finally getting around to some editing and to flicking through my shoot with Tito and the one and only Jorge, groomer extraordinaire… leading me to two HUGE regrets. One, that I couldn’t take Jorge on every shoot with me (not only for his grooming skills but also for his coffee-making talents) and two, that I didn’t stay in New York longer, to get to know and photograph some of Tito’s four-legged acquaintances who also could have been in the book. Alas, it was not to be…but it was most certainly a treat to spend a couple of hours with both of these wonderful characters on a very sunny and crisp morning in New York, New York, 18 Feb 2012.
Ajman – my first TV experience
Oryx in Ajman on location for TV interview
Arabian horse in the dunes of Ajman
- The elegance of the beauty Arabian in Ajman
Within two days of arriving here in Dubai, where I have now been for a month nearly, I was running around the dunes at the most private and prestigious of horse farms in the emirate of Ajman, under an hour’s drive from Dubai, through Sharjah and beyond into the wilderness.
Not only did I get to meet some of the most prized and beautiful ‘beauty’ Arabians, but I also got to dune bash across a private reserve with several Oryx and Gazelle. In hot pursuit of me were two cameramen and their director, Haidar, who was very sensitive and kind in the post-action interview. It felt good talking about my work and explaining my methodology and giving a little insight into the making of the book.
This set the tone of my trip, and since this piece was documented, there have been two other TV interviews and two magazine interviews along with a photographic workshop, led by me, and a modest but striking photographic exhibition of a small collection of images from the book – more information on those to come and links to my 15 minutes of fame…
Never work with children or animals
Well…who said that anyway? Apparently it was WC Childs… So, defying Child’s sensible suggestion, here are a couple of images from my latest attempt at working with both animals and children. I may not be brilliant at it, but I love it and it is certainly a stimulating way to spend a Saturday morning; a good old frolic in the fresh air and some crunchy leaf-crunching is a refreshing start to the weekend.
