Blog
Honeybees Relocated for Survival
Driving around with a car full of bees isn’t my idea of fun, especially navigating hairpin bends in the snowy mountains high above the French Riviera. But one crisp morning this February, beekeeper Amanda Dowd did exactly this (with me, photographer, driving at a safe distance behind) – for a very good reason. In the bee world, a modern day Reign of Terror is occurring, led by new arrivals to the Cote d’Azur: Asian hornets.
Baby Swap in Cannes
The difference was subtle, but baby Manon’s skin colour was definitely a shade darker than her parents’. This, combined with Manon’s slightly-too-frizzy hair, didn’t overly concern her mum, Sophie…but it did bother Sophie’s boyfriend. Eventually, his doubts over Sophie’s fidelity, and the paternity of their daughter, led to the couple’s separation and a DNA test. On the day of the result, a doctor sat Sophie down. “Well, I have some news for you. Your ex-boyfriend is indeed not your child’s father…” – shocked pause – “…and there is more. You are not her mother either”.
Insurance is Fun
Last month I headed back to England on a corporate photography commission. My client, a leading national insurance company, was re-designing its brand and wanted to put its employees at the heart of a new marketing campaign. I was chosen as photographer to take over 60 portraits of insurance personnel. The intro to the brief was simple: “we want to make the idea of insurance fun, to capture our lovely employees laughing and smiling, at their natural best”. There were certainly some amusing outtakes along the way…
Saffron Harvest
On a narrow, terraced field high up in the French Alps, I got down on my knees among the flowers and bees to leisurely frame a picture. Sweet scent rose up all around and the mountains seemed to sparkle in the low sunshine as I photographed the unusual harvest of a crop that is worth more than gold: saffron.
Monaco Portrait of a Silver Fox
Senior figures from all over the world have business (and perhaps pleasure) reasons to visit the French Riviera, especially Monaco. One of the things I love about being an editorial photographer here is the chance to meet some of the interesting characters who come and go. A few weeks ago, I was asked to take a portrait of a businessman in a hotel room. But not just any businessman, and not just any hotel.
Training on Top of the World
In Monaco one week and St. Moritz the next… this could be a jet setter’s timetable. The ski resort town of St. Moritz in Switzerland is known as a favourite winter playground for the rich and famous; Monaco needs no explanation. However, although the subjects of this portrait assignment are well-known in their sphere, they seem to entirely lack the jet set mindset. Champion triathletes Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee are true-blue Yorkshiremen, known for a particular brand of down-to-earth Britishness and understatement.
On the Trail of Wolves
Wolves were once hunted to extinction in France. However, over the last ten years, a French wolf population has been firmly re-established, initially in Le Parc du Mercantour – the national park that straddles the mountainous border between France and Italy. Today, firmly protected in law, wolves are threatening the existence of another rare breed in France: traditional sheep herders. 20,000 sheep have been killed by wolves in France in the last 5 years.
Monte Carlo or Bust
I photographed 3 museums, 3 restaurants, the royal palace and a cactus wonderland. I traipsed down countless steps into the bowels of the earth to admire stalactites. I hiked in the summer heat along a coastal footpath. I got tangled in a throng of cameras at the cathedral, photographing tourists who were photographing wedding guests who were photographing the just-married couple who were being photographed by their photographer. All this and more for the New York Times 36 Hours in Monaco travel guide….
Monaco: License to Shoot
Photographers often say that France, with its thorny privacy laws, is the trickiest place in the world for street photography. I suspect people who say that have never tried it in Monaco. While it has its showy side, Monaco is well-known as a safe haven for some of the world’s higher earners, and this is a reputation that the principality works hard to protect. Paparazzi photographers are about as unwelcome as a rabid stray dog at Crufts and, unfortunately, any roving photographer risks being tarred with the same brush. Photographers wanting to shoot anywhere in the principality, for whatever purpose, need a License to Shoot.
All the Fun of the (Trade) Fair
As I write, the Cannes Film Festival is under way. But this is not the only event that brings people flocking to Cannes every year. Le Palais des Festivals hosts a number of international trade fairs. A dazzling array of acronyms beginning with ‘M’ give titles to these business events. MIDEM is for the music industry, MIPCOM , MIPDOC & MIPTV the TV business and MAPIC for retail property, among others. MIPIM is the one of the biggest events, and it is devoted to large-scale real estate.