Recent Commission for Eastbourne's Phoenix Choir

A selection of my photographs from a recent commission for the Eastbourne based "Phoenix Choir" of their performance of J.S. Bach "Passion of St Matthew" which was performed here in Eastbourne a couple of weeks ago at Church of England "All Saints" . What a wonderful and magical experience to be a part of. I was challenged in parts of the church by very poor lighting in areas and had to work hard to capture the soloists who were predominantly in this poor area of light and had to really push my skills and equipment to the edge, however this all paid off in the end in the results that I managed to obtain.

Receiving the following comment from my client was lovely  "Many thanks for the pics - they really convey the atmosphere on the night which I think is great and almost palpable."

Link to the review of their performance on the Eastbourne Herald newspaper website featuring one of my photographs.

A passage to India

Last year on Instagram, I posted a series of photographs from a seminal time in my life when my wife and I travelled through India in 2000. 

Posting these images on Instagram was an opportunity to examine with a critical eye 16 years later, some of my early photography, and served to remind me how much passion I had back then for photography and the opportunities it presented me as a young traveller. It has reinforced a desire to return and travel places like this again, with what I know now. It has served as reminder, that these portraits were captured in a free and easy time of my life and shows that it is important to be be in the moment and go with flow - which was how we were back then, before children and a corporate job took hold of life and the path changed direction. 

I have to say, that Sara was a legend when we travelled, putting up with me disappearing or lagging behind to capture a photograph! 

All were photographed on my 35mm film Nikon N4004 using a combination of two lens I had at the time: a 35-70mm and a 70-200mm lens. At the time I was mainly using colour print, but there are some slide and B&W in the mix. As I was travelling at the time and didn't want have prints made (to save on weight) , towards the end of the trip in India I produced contact sheets at a photo lab in New Delhi, and I remember the proprietor when I went to collect them, asking if I was on assignment for National Geographic - that comment made my day I tell you!

Unfortunately at the time I scanned these around 2002/2003 I really didn't know much about digital photography, or Photoshop or scanning really - so they were all scanned at quite a low quality - we live and learn. Another job in the future to re scan all of these so I could make a book  - hours of work to achieve  that!

I will also post at some point a series of images from Laos and Thailand from the same trip.

Chas - Homeless Ex Serviceman (Veteran)

In the summer we visited old family friends in Newquay. Newquay is an ancient fishing village that over the past few decades has also turned into one of the UK’s Premier surf spots. Newquay also has a less savoury reputation as a destination for Hen and Stag nights, something that the town is slowly trying to reverse. As with any large town in the UK, there is a transient and not so transient homeless population, and that is what this portrait is all about.

Whilst out on a photo walk by myself, I came across Chas in the town centre. He initially asked me for a smoke, and I shared my tobacco pouch with him so he could roll a cigarette. We then started having a conversation, and quite quickly his story came to light, and this is some of it.

Chas was born in Glasgow, but was raised in Brixton South London. When he finished school, he joined the army and found his way into the Royal Engineers where he trained as a Sapper (clearing & laying minefields, disarming unexploded ordinance as well as booby traps etc.) He served in the Falklands and Northern Ireland and left the service with the impressive rank of Sergeant Major. Once he left the army, life got away with him, he didn’t go into too much details but no doubt alcohol and or drugs took their toll, and he has been homeless for almost 20 years. He now lives in a shed on a private property which he said he keeps an eye on, and looks after 2 feral cats he has adopted called George and Sid. He told me he is a Pagan, and strongly believes in the seen and unseen forces of nature. Despite being homeless, he takes pride in his appearance and spoke with a quiet confidence of his life on the street. He also told me that he has given talks on the dangers of alcohol and drugs to school children, and from his position on the street has been able to help people out partying in Newquay who get the worse for wear by calling an ambulance and by providing first aid. 

He is also a poet, and after capturing his portrait for the exchange of some more rolling tobacco he recited one of his poems – which I recorded and you can listen to by following the link below (apologies for the quality of the recording – this was made on a busy high street with lots of back ground noise, a friend helped to clean some of it up).

In all the most extraordinary person to have met, and a reminder of a saying from my late mother, “that there but for the Grace of God go I”. By treating this man with some dignity and respect I captured this magnificent portrait of this gentleman. 

It saddens me no end, that men and woman who have served their country with pride and honour, who have put their lives on the line and possibly suffered horrific physical or mental injuries land up on the streets of the country they gallantly served. It’s a national disgrace and a shameful state of affairs. I appreciate that some people land up on the streets despite whatever help is offered, but the vast majority don’t deserve this and the process needs to be strengthen to assist these men and woman in order to stop them falling through the cracks. When I spoke to him about the various charities out there such as the “Royal Legion” and “Help for Heroes”, he was put off by the amount of forms and red tape that needs to be got through to access these services – something needs to be done to streamline and smooth the process for “Homeless Veterans or Ex-Servicemen/woman” in desperate need, so they can be supported in return for the support they have shown us and the country we live in. 

"Pimp My Busk" in collaboration with "Plunge Productions"

This Saturday I had the pleasure of being official photographer for the fabulous and talented "Pimp my Busk" crew , who are also all part of the "Plunge Productions" family and got to indulge myself in some street style photography. This selection of 46 images are my favourites from the day.

The guerilla Pimp My Busk crew will be highlighting unsuspecting festival buskers with a sprinkle of razzamatazz, a dash of glamour and a pinch of pizzazz for the duration of the Brighton Fringe Festival over the next few weekends.

The concept behind "Pimp My Busk" is simple and can best be summed up in their own words;

"Brighton has an incredibly diverse music scene and there are so many buskers who brave the outdoors, come rain or shine, to share the songs that they write with the public.  With this in mind, this coming Brighton Festival, the Pimp My Busk crew aim to help get these brilliant musicians noticed and draw as much attention to them as we can (without stealing the limelight!)." 

The buskers that were supported and in order of appearance in my gallery are as follows:

"The Human Jukebox" with Paul on guitar and Fergus on trombone

"Oriental Sound"

"Professor Poppolottus" Balloon Twister & Magician

"The Close Shaves"

Spalding Family Portrait Session

I was recently commissioned by David Spalding, to capture some portraits of him and his sons as a birthday present for his wife. We decided on the location of the family business as being the perfect back drop for this series of family portraits. 

David offers a variety of joinery works, from custom made bespoke gates with or without automation, bespoke furniture and all types of garden structures, from planters to rose arches, log stores to bespoke green houses.

Please visit their company website the Woodbees for more details on the various high end wood working and joinery services that they offer. 

Wil Wardle Photography - Lens Culture Portrait Awards 2016

Hover your mouse pointer over the photographs for titles and descriptions

Extract below from recent submission to the 2016 Lens Culture Portrait Awards

"My aim is to capture emotion and thought in my subjects in a respectful and dignified manner, as I capture their likeness in a moment of time. This collection is made up of portraits that have had a personal impact to me, and which have all contributed in some meaningful way to push my photography forward. All of my submissions are unique and diverse pieces taken throughout recent years; I believe them to be very distinct and contrasting in their own light but as a collection they represent me as a photographer in my own style. So what you have here is what I believe to be some of my strongest work: work of which I sincerely hope will stand up and speak for me in the way words can’t. It’s hard for me to choose a single portrait that stands out for they all come from differing emotional states and points in time for me.

As we all know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that art is subjective to the individual observer; so it is with pleasure and a little trepidation that I submit my images to the judging process."

Please follow link to my entry on the Lens Culture website, and if you feel so desired share on Facebook! :)

Some more Environmental Portraits

This weekend just past, I made another concerted effort to get out and capture some more candid environmental style portraits for my portfolio.

The first portrait is of Chris, who is the proprietor at "Jasper Wood" which is a very popular coffee shop here in Eastbourne. Jasper Wood is an eclectic and interesting place to sit and enjoy a coffee in. This is the first one three photos I that I am really quite pleased with from the weekend. I would so like to be able to do this every day. To be out with my camera, relaxed, watching and waiting for that opportunity to present itself, and in doing so allowing me to engage in a meaningful way with new people.

The second portrait is of a young man called Matt from the "Games Workshop" in Eastbourne. The Games Workshop hobby is about collecting, building, painting and playing games with Citadel miniatures. This shop has been in Eastbourne for many years, and is a real fascination to walk into and to see all the miniature armies. When walking past on Saturday, I couldn't help  but be captivated by the attention to detail I noticed Matt was giving to the painting of one of the playing pieces, so I stepped inside to ask if I could capture his portrait, which he graciously agreed to. 

The third and final portrait I am really fond of from this weekend’s effort to get out with my camera is of my old friend David and his son Fred playing guitar together in David's home studio. David is a phenomenal musician and his son Fred is currently learning to play the guitar too. I only noticed when I was post processing that my son Seb, can be seen in the back ground poking his cheeky face around the door. Fred and Seb are really good mates too.

A series of Environmental Portraits

Yesterday I made a concerted effort to take my camera out and engage with people in order to capture some portraits. On the whole a successful endeavour, and not just for photography's sake, but also just to encounter and speak to some new people.

The first two portraits are of Jon who is the owner/proprietor at Scorch Comics Eastbourne's premier comic book destination and who are situated in the Enterprise Centre in Eastbourne.  John and his brother started the business about a month ago and have a wonderful collection of old and new comics and graphic novels as well as other merchandise, well worth a visit.

The second series of two portraits is of David Crozier owner and proprietor of David Crozier Guitars. David restores, repairs and also sells a small but beautiful selection of vintage, used and interesting guitars. David's shop is also situated in the Enterprise Centre, and if you are fan of the guitar whether acoustic or electric you will want to pop in for a visit and chat. 

The third series of two portraits is of Duncan playing his Mariachi Mexican guitar inside David Crozier's Guitar repair workshop. Duncan is a customer of David's and he graciously allowed me to take his portrait.

The fourth and final series of two portraits is of renowned Eastbourne Photographer Maurilio Teso. These were taken in the Picture Framing shop he runs with his daughter on Susans Road in Eastbourne. I found out when visiting Maurilio that the shop is about to close as they are in the process of converting the building into luxury flats. His daughter will continue to run the business in a more personal format from a new location. 

A trip home to the Mother City and the District of Woodstock

In August of this year, my family and I returned home to South Africa on holiday in order to celebrate my Father In-Law 80th Birthday. It was the first time back to Cape Town for us as a family for many years, and the excitement of a long overdue family reunion to one side,  I was really looking forward to some great photographic opportunities.

One of the things on my to do list photographically, was to hook up with an old contact of mine on Instagram, a chap by the name of Thoban Jappie (Please visit his IG Stream, not to be missed!). 

I met Thoban through Instagram a few years ago, and after some facebooking and a few texts and a phone call later I had the pleasure of connecting with this guy when visiting the Mother City in person. He took time out of his busy schedule to take me on  guided photo-walk through one of the old districts of Cape Town called Woodstock. Woodstock holds additional sentimental value to me, as my mother and Grand Mother were Nursing Sister's at the Woodstock Hospital many years back now. We spoke in depth as we walked around and one thing became apparent, that some aspects of Woodstock have not changed for generations, however now nestled amongst the thriving local community and associated characters, and  general quaintness of the area - gentrification is starting to creep in with old family homes being modified and redeveloped into modern city living, and entire blocks knocked down and demolished, to the likes of Google pulling in and setting up their Cape Town HQ here. 

The images on this post are all portraits that were taken by me on our photowalk. In addition to the portraits, I took some photographs of some great street art and other urban themes.

In addition Thoban knows I am a keen car street photographer, and the first place we visited was full of vintage and retro cars waiting to be restored - he read me very well as this was like manna from heaven for me. More will follow on these auto's of Woodstock in a later blog post 

What an opportunity, and what a pleasure to have been in Thoban's company, a truly memorable experience. 

Wil Wardle Photography on Ipernity

So its like this, at this time of writing I have 197 images posted on Ipernity, and counting.

I started using Ipernity as a way to separate my distinct personal photographic styles, as I felt that I needed a place to focus my photography of people, incorporating but not limited too my street style photography and also a few portrait style projects that I am currently working on. 

This is quite different from the urban and auto themed projects that are predominately displayed on my Flickr stream. Whilst having been on Flickr for many years, and having built up a solid base of followers and of people I follow in turn, and whose photography I really admire, starting afresh on Ipernity has been slow, but I am getting there.

The selection of my photography that I have curated on here, are all photographs that I am proud of and pleased with the crafting of, and which span a period of the past 4 years or so.

They generally tell some sort of a story or display an essence of emotion or personality of the subject. Some are street scenes, however the theme running through all the photographs is "People", whether they be family, friends or strangers I have met and engaged with on some sort of personal level. 

I hope you will feel some of my passion and my personal pride in the work which I have hand selected to display here. I will continue to post on here from my catalogue as time goes by.

Please do me the huge honour of clicking on  the link embedded into the image below, and be taken directly to my Ipernity page - feedback and comments most welcome.

That's all Folks (Off the Wall)

That's all Folks (Off the Wall)

Street Photography portrait of a rather interesting looking man, taken last year at the Eastbourne Extreme Festival. 

Andrew

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

One of my first images experimenting with the environmental style of photography. This portrait is of my old friend Andrew. Even though he isnt a farmer, the scene and setting certainly lend that illusion :)

Wilfred - Bio (Organic) Shop Keeper in Morgental (Zurich)

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

Another portrait of Wilfred (an old family friend) outside his Bio (Organic) Shop in Morgental, Zurich. Forming part of my environmental portrait series.

Ben from Sign Studio

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

Continuing my environmental portrait series. This one taken a few years ago of my friend Ben Hackney of Hackney Design who previously worked at the Sign Studio in Eastbourne.

The Guv'nor

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

This portrait was taken on a workshop I did with renowned street photographer Antonio Olmos. This was taken in Brighton, on the flea market held off the Laines in Brighton. This also forms part of my environmental series of photographs, and is part street portrait too.

Sebastian of "Scent The Florist"

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

This portrait was taken on a workshop I did with renowned street photographer Antonio Olmos. This was taken in Brighton. This also forms part of my environmental series of photographs

Save the Lollipop Man Appeal

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

Photograph I took a while ago (3 years ago), blurb as follows from when it was taken:

"Parents with children at the Stafford County Junior, and Roseland’s Infant School are currently running an appeal to raise £3000 to retain the services of David the lollipop man, whose funding has not been renewed. The reason for this is apparently that the busy road St Phillips Ave that he mediates for parents and children crossing, apparently does not warrant a dedicated crossing guard. However a number of us are extremely concerned that by David not being there at the busy school open and close times, and the heavy volume traffic at this time, will lead to a serious accident. As a result the Stafford PTFA is running an appeal to raise the £3000 per annum required to pay David a part time salary." 

He is still there 3 years later :)

Train Driver

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

This photo was taken a few years ago now at the annual Magnificent Motors show in Eastbourne.  Part of an ongoing project, well actually crossing over two projects really "Environmental Portraits" and "Man and Machine" (more details on my website). These guys are part of the Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway, and appear at most local events, and are always popular with kids and parents alike.  Incredible that each of these miniature locomotives are completely hand built.

Caroline - Dress Maker

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

Environmental style portrait of my talented sister in-law who works for  the Zurich Opera House 
in the costume department. As a treat for us she organised a trip to one of their costume stores,  
great fun was had by all exploring all the wonderful costumes and props. Caroline studied fashion and design in Cape Town, and she now also makes dresses and handbags etc to order in Zurich. 

Roman Legionnaire

Latest photography posted on my Ipernity Photo Stream

Portrait of my son taken 2 Christmas ago now on a family holiday to Zurich. My talented sister in-law works for  the Zurich Opera House in the costume department, and as a treat for us organised a trip to one of their costume stores,  great fun was had by all exploring all the wonderful costumes and props.