Andrew Garfield & Choirboy Make the 2024 AOP Awards Finals
Great news this month that two of my campaign images are Finalists at the prestigious Association of Photographers (AOP) 2024 Awards, which you can read all about here, and will be announced at a glitzy ceremony in London in late September.
Judged by an array of top-notch industry folk & featuring a who’s who of the contemporary UK photographic scene, these awards are a highlight of the British photography calendar, basically the photo Oliviers, Brits or BAFTAs.
Each year, copies of the awards book are prized and pored over, and on a personal note, they’ve long sat on my shelves as reference points for quality & inspiration, so I’m very proud to have been shortlisted in 2024 in two categories.
Portrait Category: Andrew Garfield shot for Audible.
Andrew was at the end of a long recording day for a new dramatisation of Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984, so there was barely 20 minutes to shoot him. And Audible needed 2 straightforward setups shot in 2 different rooms in that timeframe. It didn’t seem like there’d time for added creativity.
But, when we’d got the briefed images I saw a chance. Assistant @rubendavies tweaked the lights, I grabbed a @prismlensfx filter & kept Andrew talking while shooting 4 quick images, one of which was this photograph, which really captured some of the mood & atmosphere I wanted.
The fact it has been selected amongst a handful of finalists by judges including Russ O’Connell, Picture Editor, Sunday Times Magazine, is the icing on the cake. And it goes to show, even if you only have seconds, with the right mentality there’s always space for a little extra inspiration.
Check out all the AOP Awards Portrait Finalists here
Lifestyle Category: Choirboy for Bristol Old Vic
Made with the brilliant Steph Pyne – who was on art direction and edit – shooting the campaign imagery for Bristol Old Vic’s production of Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choirboy was one my most joyful projects ever.
The story of Pharus, a young, Black, gay student leading the legendary gospel choir at his elite, all-boys school in America, it centres around the energy, exuberance and deep sensitivity of a group of young men on the cusp of adulthood. As well as the technical challenges of an overhead shooting set up and creating sunny daylight in the studio, we worked the fantastic actors to make an advertising image that portrayed a spontaneous, joyful, real-feeling moment.
So, it’s extra special that our campaign has placed as a finalist in the Lifestyle category, which is basically an advertising niche: “Fictional / staged photography and short form film reflecting lifestyle scenarios, that illustrate or promote brands, corporations, products, and ideas,” judged by folk including Jaki Jo Hannan, Head of Print Production and Experiential, adam&eve DDB.
Check out all the AOP Awards Lifestyle Finalists Here
