Production Paradise

Welcome to the October edition of SHOWCASE LONDON from Production Paradise. Once again, we introduce you to some of the UK capital's best visual media companies and professionals providing creative, technical and related services. A fuller directory - with a new "add to favourites" feature - is at www.productionparadise.com.

Two photography exhibitions in London for your diary:

- Signature Photography Exhibition, a collection of distinctive images from members of the Association of Photographers,  demonstrating the diversity and quality of AOP Members’ photography [7-30 November, AOP Gallery]

- Andy Cameron Retrospective, a still-life exhibition featuring work by the award-winning photographer [31 October – 4 November 2006, AOP Gallery]

Lon photography/photographers' agents: TRAFFIC

It has been a busy summer at Traffic and yet the photographers have still managed to find time for their project-based work!

Martin Bennett worked with commercials and music video director, Marc Wilkins at Big Fish, to shoot filmic images for the director's new website, combining Martin's slick interiors with high-energy portraiture.

Candice exceeded all expectations on her Lily Cole underwater shoot producing eerie, yet vibrant watery portraits of the supermodel for her Fresh2O project.

Jasper White captured the essence of youth culture in Camden, and his work was shown as part of the "Walkabout, London" collection for a one-off show at Camden's Roundhouse. Traffic agent, Rebecca Valentine, was curator of the collection.

Car and location photographer, Graham Westmoreland, has joined Traffic. Since the 1990s, his well-known atmospheric advertising campaigns have won him representation around the world, shooting most of his work in the US. Based in the UK, he is now free to indulge in London's creative briefs.

Lon photography/photographers' agents: SERGE THOMASS

Now in its third year in London, Serge Thomass Photographers Consultant has been working on different creative and interesting projects, including the following high profile brand names:

• Sandro Sodano shot the recent Clarks, New Look Shoes, Paul Smith and Thomas Pink campaigns.
• Having recently worked for Guerlain, Tetsuya Niikura is again working on the Alexander McQueen perfume campaign.
• Albert Giordan worked again on the Alfred Dunhill brochure, shooting cars and accessories. He also did Pilsner's campaign and a luxury brochure for B&S.
• Pelle Bergstrom was commissioned by DDB London and shot a feature for Wallpaper magazine.
• Marjolinj de Groot worked for PlayStation, Longchamps, Alfred Dunhill, Onutsuya Tiger, among others.
• Shu Akashi shot for Hugo Boss, Estée Lauder, Valentino, Boucheron, Coca-Cola and others.

Serge Thomass recently announced the launch of Creation Consultant, representing art directors, graphic designers, music art directors and architects.

Lon photography/photographers: JULIAN CALVERLEY

Julian Calverley has recently undertaken work for Mercedes, Nederburg Wine, Calor, Open University and Zurich Life.

Shooting Sinar high-end digital, he undertakes his own postproduction in a fully ICC colour-managed workflow.

For more information and work samples, please visit his website.

Lon photography/photographers: DAVID ELLIS

Recent months have seen David Ellis shooting high profile celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Outkast, Scissor Sisters and Terri Hatcher for editorial clients and the record industry.
 
He has also been working on various reportage projects: Following a tyre from Langley to Monza for Bridgestone; photographing England fans during this summer's World Cup and capturing the action at the Throw Down Battle of Britain in Brixton.
 
David has also been busy shooting a men's and women's campaign for bespoke tailor Gresham Blake.

Lon photography/photographers: DEAN BELCHER PHOTOGRAPHY

2006 is continuing well for Dean Belcher, with editorial commissions from the Sunday Times Grazia, You, and the FT How To Spend It magazine.

He recently worked on a large portrait project for Management Today which took him on a tour of the UK, shooting 20 upbeat portraits for the Annual Service Excellence Awards, examples of which are showcased here.

In between commissions, Dean is busy with the "mods" project, which can also be seen here.

This month sees his continuing collaboration with dance label Global Underground.

Dean is represented for advertising by jo talbot and sue young who can be contacted on +44(0)2072620189.

Lon photography/photographers: NIGEL HARNIMAN

Over the past few months, photographer Nigel Harniman has been working on various projects, both on location and in the studio.
 
His automotive work has included the ML and AMG SLK for Mercedes-Benz, the Jaguar XKR and the Hilux for Toyota, to name a few.
 
He has also been shooting people, landscapes and more personal work on location.

Lon photography/photographers' agents: CAROLYN TRAYLER AGENCY

The Carolyn Trayler Agency has been "busy, busy, busy!" with the following projects:

• Patrice de Villiers has worked on campaigns for McCain and Westfield for BMB; Eurostar for Euro RSCG Paris; Hellmann's Winning Sandwich for Lowe London, as well as editorial work for The Sunday Times, Tatler and Arena.
• Simon Mills has shot two new campaigns for 02 for VCCP and another promoting safety for cyclists for Transport For London for M&C Saatchi.
• Stuart Hall has just finished a series of shots in the Scottish Highlands for a new Mitsubishi campaign for ADK Europe.
• Tim Macpherson is finishing a personal project that focused on children and eating - combining shooting in studio and on location.
• Andy aka Greenproject has now gone solo and is working on a new portfolio of very contemporary still life.

Lon photography/photographers' agents: SWERVE PHOTOGRAPHY

Swerve Photography is proud to announce the signing of leading still life photographer David Sykes, recently selected for the Creative Review Photo Annual (2006) and the critically acclaimed landscape photographer, Edgar Martins, who published his second book, “The Diminishing Present” in June.

Edgar was also selected for the AOP Open Awards (2006), as was Paul O’Connor for his portrait of a schoolgirl.

Dan Jones’ recent cookery books include “Great British Menu” based on a celebrity chef television competition, and “A Cooks Tour of Scotland” by Sue Lawrence.

Peter Lavery completes a much anticipated new portfolio of work in October 2006.

Lon photography/photographers' agents: PROCESS

Process have enjoyed a busy fifth summer, with the following campaigns:

• Martin Brent's 48-sheet poster campaign for Sue Ryder through JWT.
• Dylan Collard's shots for Vodafone through RMG Connect; a humorous campaign to end back pain for the COI and a poignant look at children's weight issues for Birdseye through BBH.
• Gareth Sambidge's Christmas campaign for Harrods. Waitrose DM campaign with MCBD and a press campaign for Betty Crocker muffins with Saatchi & Saatchi.
• Bill Robinson has been developing the British Gas/Centrica image library as well as shooting a European campaign for Nintendo.
• Louisa Parry has been shooting still life for Sony with WWAV Rapp Collins, she has also shot a building wrap for Cadburys through Publicis as well as a McDonalds campaign for Leo Burnetts.

Lon photography/photographers: PAUL WEBSTER

Paul Webster is considered one of London's leading food photographers and over the years, he has shot for all the major UK supermarkets and food suppliers.

His most recent work has been for Slimfast, Waitrose, Tussauds, World Duty Free and location shoots for Abbaye de la Bussiere near Dijon and Amberley Castle, Sussex.

He has a new daylight garden studio close to Hammersmith Bridge.

Paul says that he "still enjoys new challenges". You can find out more at his website www.paulsnap.com, or phone +44 (0)20 8748 5786 or email info@paulsnap.com.

Lon photography/photographers: LORENTZ GULLACHSEN

Gullachsen has been shooting skies for over 20 years and has now established a new on-line library. This resource is now live and will provide a rapidly expanding collection: theskylibrary.com

He recently shot the posters for the London Motor Show sponsored by Lloyds TSB, and has been back in the Heart of England, shooting more tourism from an early morning hot air balloon ride, climbing in the Peak District and kayaking down the River Wye. He says: "Back in my home country, I am lucky to have some wonderful scenery and locations, and it's great not to have to get on a plane to get to the location".

Gullachsen has also been shooting in Spain and the UK for Land Rover via agency PHWT.

Lon photography/photographers' agents: THE MORETTI AGENCY

It has been a busy few months for The Moretti Agency:

• David Boni won a pitch against five other photographers to shoot the first Scottish Widows calendar, launching on 29 November.
• Robbie Smith has completed a 96-sheet campaign for the new Carling C2 2% lager, as well as 48 sheets for Barkers, Healthier Scotland Alcohol 'Don't push it' campaign.
• John Owen has been shooting editorial for ion magazine.
• Moretti have also announced the recent signing of fashion photographer Robert Penkwitt and stylist Amelia Staples.
• They have now moved to new offices in the heart of Edinburgh.

Lon photography/photographers: HOWARD KINGSNORTH

For the last two months Howard Kingsnorth has been working on a personal project featuring, ice, sea and landscapes in Southern Iceland.

Describing the experience, Howard says: "With the help of a local guide and an all-terrain vehicle, we sought obscure and surreal environments. We battled against 24-hour sunshine, driving rain, fog, ice storms, more rain and unpronounceable slammers".

Here, we feature some of the images from the trip. More can be seen at Howard's website.

Lon photography/photographers: ALLAN MCPHAIL

While shooting Juventus sponsor, Fiat, at their stadium in Turin, Allan got caught up in the Italian football scandal, a political outcry that almost saw the images being banished to the bottom draw.

Back home, Allan shot five ads for Peugeot's "Drive Of Your Life" Campaign for Euro RSCG in various locations across the UK.

Images of trees in urban landscapes, from Allan's personal project shot in Hong Kong, made a successful entry in the first Creative Review Photography Annual.

Salt lakes and mines in Santa Pola, Spain, inspired a new series of majestic landscapes now featured on Allan's website.

Lon photography/photographers: ANDY TOMMO

Apart from updating and re-launching his website, Tommo has been photographing artists involved in 'illuminate productions' show "Core" which is now on at Union Works on London's South Bank. His aim is to capture the moods of the artists and the historic building, which has a fascinating and long history. He has also been editing together a "Making of Core" documentary.

Amongst his commissioned work, he says it was "pay back time" for his sunflowers... A series of images is now online in his not-so-private view "Sunflowers". Tommo says "you put effort care love and attention into something and hopefully one is rewarded, a kind of metaphor on life, and indeed this industry".

Tommo is presently interested in finding representation in both London and further afield. Please contact him via the details at his "all-new Flash 7 and above" website should you like to see his folio.

Lon photography/photographers: JOHNNY CARR PHOTOGRAPHY

Specialising in people and lifestyle photography, Johnny Carr has been shooting campaigns since the late 1980’s. He says that his "knowledge and adaptability reassure the advertising creative that if they can conceive, I can create".

Recent work includes the featured shot for Malmaison. The girl was shot on location at the Newcastle Malmaison, the wings of a sparrow hawk, in the studio, and re-touching was done in house. The project was commissioned by Robson Brown, art director was Gary Garnczarczyk.

You can see here Johnny’s Director Of Photography show reel and on the commercials section you will find a recent cinema ad for Bowel Cancer UK.

Lon photography/photographers: JOHNNY CARR PHOTOGRAPHY

Having shot for campaigns and commercials for the past decade, as a stills photographer, Johnny Carr describes his move into working as a D.O.P as a natural progression.

He says: “As a stills photographer, I am used to controlling every aspect of a shoot - from sourcing models, stylists, locations etcetera, to lighting the whole set using all types of rigs, Flash, HMIs and Tungsten. Working as a D.O.P allows me to concentrate on shots in depth, working alongside focus pullers, loaders, grips, gaffers and sparks, the whole team is behind me, which allows my concentration to be focused on achieving the best possible shots. I love it! I have always shot videos, but only recently realised my potential to shoot as both a stills photographer and a D.O.P. For me, the two run in perfect conjunction.”

Lon photography/photographers: NICK DOLDING

Nick Dolding has been busy on a number of projects, including:

• Shoots for Playstation games Tekken and Lemmings.
• A Heinz Beans campaign, art directed by Nick Pringle and written by Clark Edwards at Leo Burnett.
• The Woolwich 'Contortionist' campaign for BBH, art directed by Nadine Akle and written by Ben Akers.
• A big press and poster shoot for Nokia, art directed by Martin Steel at Haygarth.
• An on going press campaign for Norwich Union through Teamspirit, art directed by Tim Nicholson.
• New personal work for his folio.

Lon event/photo events: THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S GALLERY

At The Photographers’ Gallery this autumn, there are two exhibitions focused on global concerns about the North African diaspora, with images and a new film made with a camera obscura and mesmeric photographs of bluebell forests.

The Photographers’ Gallery is considered one of the UK's primary venues for photography and one of London’s most popular public galleries with over half a million people visiting in 2005. Established in 1971, the Gallery was the UK's first independent photographic gallery.

Lon production/photo production: LOULOU LOCATIONS

LouLou Locations has produced many advertising campaigns both internationally and in the UK, working for clients such as BMW, P&O Cruises, Ford, Zurich Finance and Vauxhall in Iceland, France, Germany, Spain and the UK.

Other recent UK campaigns are VW, Kia, Birmingham Midshires, HSBC, PUMA and Nokia.

As well as providing an excellent production service, they are experienced scouts with an extensive locations database.

Please see their website to see more.

Lon production/commercial production: DONUT PRODUCTIONS

Donut Productions provides video content for viral ads, guerrilla-style internet video movies and websites.

Projects range from photographing Ronaldinho for EA Sports Fifa Street to working with an animatronic baby for BP and Channel 4’s The Farm. Donut's work has picked up many awards, the most recent being a Campaign Digital for Best Media & Publications Campaign.

See the new website for projects that blend video, animation and flash to produce the personalised and seductive imagery.

Lon creativity/fashion designer: RUTI DANAN

From her studio in London, Ruti Danan’s made-to-order service offers her clients the chance to enjoy the luxury of one-to-one attention, a perfect fit and a unique design.

Taking the pieces in her collections as her starting point, Ruti works closely with the client, adapting the garment for the particular occasion to flatter and accentuate the figure.

Her exclusive creations are frequently worn to premieres, galas and other high profile events while her wedding gowns are sought after for their fresh, contemporary appeal.

Devotees have commented on how special a Ruti Danan dress makes them feel - "timeless couture designs which have the power to make an entrance with subtlety and individuality".

Lon photography/photo postproduction: HAPPY FINISH

Happy Finish is a collective of independent digital retouchers in London working for clients around the world. Recent work included the Diesel Camouflage, D&G Underwear and the Dodge ‘Anything But Cute’ campaigns.

Managing Director, Stuart Waplington, explains their rapid success in the following terms: “We brought together the best independent retouchers in the UK, and consciously kept Happy Finish non-corporate to maintain the creative edge. The retouchers continue to work directly one-on-one with the photographers and art directors. Clients love it because they get to choose the retoucher they want to work with rather than us choosing for them.”

More information can be found at their newly-re-launched website, which has individual portfolios of all the represented retouchers.

Lon service/props/ furnishing: CHINA & COMPANY

China & Company is now London's leading props hire company for everything related to food & drink photography including cutlery, cloths & napkins, surfaces and chairs.

For hire are 20,000 different plate designs and colours from white to ethnic, glasses and glass plates, old and new kitchen cooking ware and tools, all in 4,500 sq.ft of easily viewed displays in Shepherds Bush.

More details ate the website, or telephone +44 (0)20 8740 9588.

Lon media/book publishers: THAMES & HUDSON

Thames & Hudson, "innovative publishers of illustrated books", combine strong writing with beautiful printing.

Their publications cover art, architecture, graphics, design, fashion, photography, decorative arts, archaeology, history, travel and music. They publish approximately 180 new titles each and have a current backlist of over 2000 titles.

There are sister companies in New York and Paris, and subsidiary companies in Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Lon media/book publishers: STEIDL

Steidl Publishers hold the world rights for the books of renowned photographers and artists, including Richard Serra, Susan Meisalas, Karl Lagerfeld and Jürgen Teller. They also work for many renowned museums and galleries.

At last week's Frankfurt Book Fair, Steidl presented their complete autumn list of both illustrated and literary titles and hosted a launch event with Günter Grass, to celebrate the launch of his latest literary work.

Following the launch of Towards a Promised Land (published by Steidl and Artangel) at the Margate Exodus on 30 September, Wendy Ewald will be giving a talk about her work at the Photographer's Gallery, London, on 24 October.

Lon hotel/hotels: ST MARTINS LANE

From its superb location at the hub of Covent Garden, West End theatres and Trafalgar Square, St Martins Lane is "a dramatic and daring reinvention of the urban resort".

Unique features include the acclaimed Asia de Cuba restaurant, the highly popular Light Bar, and interactive light displays in every guest room that encourage guests to personalise their own individual space, and help to turn the hotel into "a beautiful and ever changing mosaic of colour".

Lon hotel/apartments: TT SERVICED APARTMENTS

With 424 apartments in London, Berlin, Dublin, Florence, New York and Rome, TT Serviced Apartments is aimed at frequent travellers who want the "facilities and convenience of a stylish hotel with the comfort and privacy of home". 

All apartments have a kitchen facility, and clients have access to the public areas and services of the hotels.

In London, there are high-quality apartments at the Athenaeum Hotel, Base2stay, The Hempel, 5 Maddox Street, The Metropolitan and the Soho Hotel.