Edge light and David Harewood
In the past month it feels like the year has properly kicked off as I’ve had more opportunity to work. Recently, I had a pleasant experience photographing the actor and president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, David Harewood. It was more or less my first job of the year and as I hadn’t made any work in the editorial space for a while I wanted to do something different.
I usually work in bright settings and in even light with flatter colour palettes but I wanted to try working with more dramatic lighting and began to explore and research potential options. The session was initially supposed to take place in a black box theatre, a small space with no natural light so I originally planned to try some rim lighting. However it quickly became apparent I’d need to buy more equipment in order to do it properly, so I began to research ways to achieve the effect with what I had available. I bought some colour cellophane and some cheap black foam board and practiced the set up but I wasn’t satisfied with the results I was getting (I still attempted it on the day). Fortunately, the day before it was mentioned there was a possibility I would be able to photograph David in RADAs Scenic Art Studio, which I was assured would be a more visually interesting space.
I had an idea to use African ankara cloth as an exposed backdrop. Ankara are African wax print fabrics that usually have bright colourful patterns and are used for clothing. While the exposed backdrop is relatively played out these days, I felt it justified here where I could play with themes of stage performance, vulnerability and legacy while highlighting majesty. For this, I wanted to reference David’s Bajan heritage with a fabric that had similar colours to the flag of Barbados. My mother directed me to a place in Peckham where I would be able to find some and fortunately I found a pattern I liked fairly quickly.
For this job I had roughly 45 mins to prepare and set up. After greeting a few members of staff I was led to the Scenic Art Studio and not knowing what to expect I was a little taken aback at first. It was a large room, full of various art materials. Paintings and signs were cluttered throughout, the floor was uneven with multiple layers of paint that seemed to have set in over a period of many years. In fact almost all the furniture in the space bore some mark of paint as if there was no way for any item in the room to escape some sort of creative influence. There were misshapen tables and chairs, unfinished statuesque models, copious amounts of card and in progress carpentry everywhere and curiously lots of nails and bolts on the ground. The entire room was like an explosion of multiple art practices caught in stasis.
Because it was a single room, I wanted to immediately identify ways I could break up the space. Part of making editorial work is about providing options and variety to an editor, it allows the pictures to have greater reach across multiple mediums of publication and ideally on subsequent occasions. I quickly identified three areas I wanted to work in and then began to set up. I don’t always have a good amount of time to set up, but on this occasion the time provided me the opportunity to test my lights with the assistance of my friend, Chelsea, who had kindly agreed to assist me the previous day.
By the time David arrived we were set and ready to go. Not all jobs are like this as you don't always have the time, help or environment to be as intentional, but this one allowed me to try a few things so I thought I’d share a little about the process.
That concludes another entry, thanks for reading. Some reminders and updates: The finalists for Palm Photo Prize 2024 were recently announced, congrats to them all! I wasn’t among the finalists, but I did make the shortlist and all shortlisted artists are being exhibited in Amsterdam as part of the Melkweg Expo from May 24 to June 30, so if you happen to be in Amsterdam around that time, check it out and feel free to send me pictures. I plan to show some work from my ongoing project later this year at the New Art Gallery Walsall as part of the REFLECTOR Development Programme with GRAIN. I will be exhibiting with 18 other amazing artists and the gallery is a lovely space. That will be going from October 26 to March 9 2025 and I will be there on October 26 so feel free to come down and say hello.
Work on my project has already started to ramp up as spring has kicked in, so I have no idea how often I’ll be sending out newsletters but I appreciate everyone for reading and I’ll hopefully be able to pop up from time to time if I have anything to say. Thank you!
