The Biomass Group have a bold mission to drastically reduce Sri Lanka’s dependency on fossil fuel. By partnering with large plantations to small subsistence farmers everyone benefits two-fold by intercropping gliricidia – a fast growing calorie rich plant that can be used a fuel and is carbon neutral.
A fitting tribute to the men and women who lived and died for their trade and their city. Read more here.
This is an amazing project which aims to grow across a part of the city. It’s got people talking and more importantly it’s got neighbours communicating. Each coloured filter costs about 60p, a simple idea to brighten peoples lives. I met Robin, who lives in the area and was instrumental in making the project happen, it was inspiring to see his enthusiasm and the impact such a simple but effective idea can have on a community.
Canon 5DSR + 17mm TSE lens.
The latest project for Al Jazeera took my colleague Jonathan Richards and I to Chicago to make a film about treating gun violence as a disease. Dr Gary Slutkin has spent much of his career working in Africa specialising in contagious diseases. On his return to his home town he was struck by the similarities in how gun crime spread. It was a privilege to meet a group of people having such a positive effect, you can see the film here.
The Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) is the community of terrific people. From designers, to hardware specialists, technologists, marketeers and developers, everyone works and plays together to make an amazing environment.
Shooting moving image as well as responsibility for production stills always messes with my head, on the one hand the disciplines are similar, indeed lighting and composition are what we stills guys bring to the party.
The images below are shot to compliment the Al Jazeera Correspondent Series documentary “Putting Man on the Moon” and feature some of the key figures of NASA Crew Systems as well as the Astronauts whose life was in their hands. Directed by my good friend Jonathan Richards, the story centres around Caroline Radnofsky, a journalist whose grandfather, Matt Radnofsky was a navigator in a a WW2 B17 bomber. He was injured and thrown out of the aircraft on a static line only to have all of his safety equipment bar his parachute fail. This inspired him to eventually work for NASA and help design the Apollo space suit.
The documentary was shot over three weeks and in three countries, seven flights (including the B17), ten U.S. states, eight beds… and about 5 minutes to get a decent still for each element of the story. There always going to be compromise when time and baggage allowance is tight – particularly when it comes to lighting – enter the Profoto B2. A light weight compact solution that is fast and powerful meant there was very little to trade off, once my head was in stills mode I was able to think on my feet and get decent lighting to either compliment what was there or in the case of the cover image eliminate the available light all together using High Speed Sync.
The film is not just for the Space geeks, it’s a story of human endeavour and it was a privilege to meet some of people who made it happen.
The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
Charlie Duke Apollo 16.
Walter Cunningham Apollo 7
Carlos – Barber to the Astronauts.
Caroline with Barbara Radnofsky
Joe McMann – NASA Crew Systems
Amy Shira Teitel – Vintage Space & Author of Breaking the Chains of Gravity.
Nicholas de Monchaux – Author, Spacesuit Fashioning Apollo.
B17 Flying Fortress
At the Navigators table – B17 Flying Fortress
Jim Lovell – Apollo 8, Apollo 13
Jim Lovell – Apollo 8, Apollo 13
Homer Reihm – ILC Dover
John Scheible – ILC Dover
Leave Hitler to Me Lad started life as many musicals do, at the Edinburgh Fringe. Written by Haley Cox, the Director at Duck Egg Theatre Co, with music by Nerf Herder’s Ben Pringle ( of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) and based on a true story, this sensitively written piece is about the hit London’s West End.
This photo- essay revolves around Street Theatre with a twist. The audience sit in an empty shop, the “stage” visible through two way or silvered windows. The actors then come an go in an out of vision and as the story unfolds, the characters interact with each other and with the passers by. It was a truly amazing experience, at first the audience don’t know who is on it and who the passers by are, the looks on the passers by and the audience you see reflected in the glass adds to the story. Watch out for Rather Be Productions in a city near you.
Not all Doors are barriers, not all barriers are walls. Palestine.
Sometimes a thing of beauty falls on your lap, in this case it was in the form of piece of wood, just a piece of wood. And yet I can’t stop looking at it, which ever way you look at it this is so much more than a piece of wood, it has so much form and function it practically replaces my iPhone. Made by Arthur Berg.
It’s been a while. They say the best camera is the one you have with you, and when it comes to images of my children then it does tend to be my iPhone. So for a change here is the antidote, shot on my Sinar, manual focus, manual everything, a Profoto Softlite reflector on a boom overhead (the positioning of which is fiddly to say the least) with the idea to slooow it all down and consider everything a bit more. Needless to say I didn’t do a lot of this when they were toddlers…
Well not mine. This summer I worked on a documentary for Al Jazeera flagship programme, The Correspondent series highlighting a 21st Century problem that has become a phenomenon in less than a decade. Shooting alongside film maker Jonathan Richards, here is a selection of production stills shot with Al Jazeera correspondent Phil Lavelle as we followed his journey of discovery.
The project took us to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York London and Hull, from high rise Redwood forest of Northern California to the urban jungle. The film can be seen here.
The Typewriter Range, Camp Grounded, Northern California.
Camp Grounded, Northern California.
Camp Grounded, Northern California.
Phil Lavelle with Randi Zuckerberg.
San Francisco.
San Francisco.
An impulse shot with available light, thought I’d capture my daughters new shoes while they’re still pristine. Maybe the better shot will be when they’re worn out…
A short film shot in Uganda for Edukid, Okello lost both her parents to the LRA and is cared for by her Grandmother.
It was a little disconcerting to turn up at the SUN awards exhibition knowing that you have an image included in the exhibition and it be notable by it’s absence. Then you see five images that are covered up and there’s a little flutter. So I was a little gobsmacked to find out I’d won “Best Image” especially as it was the prestigious awards’ 25th birthday. When I consider the caliber of the talent on display to say I’m honoured is an understatement so thank you to the judges for choosing my image.
The image was taken in Nouadibou, Mauritania, en route to Freetown, Sierra Leone. I was part of a twenty four strong team driving from Hull to it’s twin town in Western Africa, on the Hull Freedom Trail – a documentary by Claudio von Planta of Long Way Round fame is available here. It was not posed, it just happened and I captured what I saw. But sometimes things happen because a guy is sat there with a big camera. For me this image tells a story of travel, the unwashed window, the scraped fingermarks add a certain tension, I gripped my comfort blanket of a camera as he stared at me.
I guess the cloudy reference was prompted by the subject of the image. The trip was all about slavery, past and present and the face in this shot was one of many that gazed into my privileged position in our air-conditioned Mitsubishi L200. I don’t know the story of this boy, I do know that many who hang around road junctions are “owned” by a local Marabout, think Fagin without the soft focus.
I shot many images on this expedition using the car window as a frame or just shooting out of the window. When I wasn’t driving I usually had my camera on my lap, the image below of the Berber sat next to the fire was shot from a moving vehicle, I just had time to wind the window down and shoot two frames, the bus was more considered but took several attempts to get the look I wanted.
For information about the SUN awards and to see the other finalists click here.
One the most exciting projects last year was working on a book for The Northern Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) and frankly it got a bit out of hand. It all started with a conversation along the lines of “Wouldn’t it be nice to have some good dance images…” And then “we don’t just do dance, we cover the performing arts, that’s drama and musical theatre too” so to cut a long story short a designer, Dominic Frary, who has worked for the National Ballet got involved and the next thing we knew we had an eighty page book on our hands.
The book has caught the eye of many people including my preferred lighting company Profoto. They asked if they could feature some of my work on their blog. This coincided with them releasing the Profoto B4 pack, the fastest, most versatile generator on the market. I had to check this baby out. On the roof.
There seemed little point in playing safe when I had a very flexible bit of kit at my disposal. No mains power? No problem. Freezing action? No problem. Over ambitious? Erm…
Having done a rece I thought the flat roof was large enough and the architecture interesting enough to get an eye catching image, but could we get a sense of drama? My original idea was to create a parkour inspired image, run along and off a pitched roof, it was safe in every sense of the word. “Why don’t we jump off the roof?” They replied “well if you’re sure…”
So, five dancers, two B4 packs, three ProHead Plus heads, magnum reflectors and a soft light reflector and away we went.
Although the generator is capable of several frames per second I still prefer to use my camera like a rifle rather than a machine gun, anticipate and pick your spot. I spent three months working in Canada in the early nineties and met an experienced rodeo photographer who always preferred to shoot this way, he said “if you see it through the viewfinder, you’ve missed it”.
One of the biggest challenges on this shoot was one I hadn’t anticipated if I’m honest. I knew I wanted to over power the sun with the flash but because it was such a bright day it was tricky balancing the power of the flash with exposure settings that reduced the daylight sufficiently. Turn the power up too high and the flash duration would be too long, and outside a focal plane shutter meant that there was a limit on the shutter speed. With hindsight a leaf shutter would be the answer.. or retreat to the safety of a studio.
But where’s the fun in that?
Thanks to Danielle, Leah, Max, Olivia, and Paige for looking before leaping, to Hannah for choreography and keeping it real, Matt from Profoto and the ever excellent film maker Jonathan for making me sound vaguely articulate.
Behind the scenes images, ©Matt Wilson from Profoto.
Floors Castle is part of the Roxburgh Estate in the Scottish Borders. The food they serve in their Terrace cafe is made in the castle kitchen by the Duke’s personal chef and his team. We took a series of images to decorate the cafe and show that they don’t buy in but make their own bread, fishcakes, chutneys not to mention the patisserie. More images available in the Stately section of my website.
How do you shoot seventy four members of staff in offices, factories and outdoors quickly and efficiently, giving a consistent look to the lighting throughout? Use a Profoto Acute battery pack, a 4’x3’ Softbox, Air Remote and a willing helper (cheers Rob). The idea was to make the images look as natural as possible if that’s possible when pointing a long lens at them, we deployed the “controlled spontaneity” approach…
What started out as an idea to produce publicity material for The Northern Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) grew into something much larger. Together with Dominic Frary of Fred Marketing we shot and designed an eighty page book reflecting their three main disciplines, Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre. The book is available for sale, if you’s like a copy send me a note and I can arrange delivery.All £15 goes to their running costs.
Inspiration is a funny thing. Where does it come from? I was inspired by this project in the for many reasons, the people involved, the chance to be part of something that has a powerful message, the challenge of less is more…
The challenges of this project remind me of why I love and value being a photographer. There were many constraints not least the budget. The big idea was to project a positive image of young people, the relationships that they have and what they give back. One of my most powerful memories was staring down at my first newborn baby and being overwhelmed with how much I could love someone who could offer me nothing in return. When you meet people whose job it is to work with young people you get a similar vibe when you see how they relate to often challenging, self destructive individuals trying to find their way. Even at a younger age, hanging around with young people you start to see the world through their eyes once more and regain that sense of wonder and by the time they enter their teens their no fear attitude and perceived invincibility certainly makes life interesting.
Shannon is a good example. She was very patient with me, or maybe she just like being photographed, she was volunteered to be our guinea pig for the test shoot. She needed to raise a £1000 so that she could be part of a trip to Morocco. She decided to put on a gig, hire a venue and arrange the bands, everything. At 16 there were a few raised eyebrows to say the least, not to mention the conversations trying to protect her from herself. She ignored them and did it anyway. I wasn’t there but just seeing the gig poster was impressive enough. She cleared £750 profit on the night despite wiser heads best intentions.
The challenge was two fold. To show that she wasn’t alone, and that there were many stories of how youth inspires the wise. We did look at using the city as the back drop but because there needed to be many faces to get the weight of the message across we decided on a simpler approach. Keep it simple. Strip it down, white background, a young face and a single word, chosen by the youth worker that had nominated them.
I think you’d agree, collectively the attributes of this collection of young people working together could change perceptions, and who knows change their world.
Tech stuff (for those who are interested)
Canon EOS1ds III
85mm F1.2L lens
Profoto D1 heads x4
Main light, Profoto Softlight Reflector white with grid
Profoto 4×3 softbox behind the camera
Disc refectors on white background.
Profoto Air remote.
Post Production.
Split tone user preset created in Adobe Lightroom, exported and blended in photoshop with standard exported file. Artwork created in Photoshop.
I have recently been working on a very exciting project…..photographing soap. It may not sound that enthralling but it’s one of the best good news stories I’ve heard about in a long time.
Carishea is a new brand of soap, it’s primary ingredient is Shea butter, made from from the Shea nut, used in many beauty and confectionary products. In a nutshell the nuts are harvested in Ghana resulting in the local growers doubling the amount of money they can get for the nuts. If you think they are now butter barons this means they are now earning in the region of £1.50 per day as appose to 75p. The knock on effect of this is that they can afford to put their children through school and an education has long term benefits for the family and the wider community. It also means that families don’t have to sell their children into bonded labour with all the implications that this gives rise to.
But it doesn’t end there. The Shea butter is then imported to Greenock in Scotland where there soap is manufactured by recovering drug addicts on rehabilitation. This employability scheme gives people a fresh start, a chance to prove themselves and the dignity of holding down a job.
But that’s not all. The product itself is made of 50-80% Shea butter which means it’s of the highest quality on the market, which means it has many health benefits and is very pleasant to use!
An all round good deal.
We hope to be visiting Ghana in the near future to make a film and shoot some images.
Designed to replenish expended energy Fuel2Go, a new brand of sports energy bar, the brief required images with inviting places to run, wide open spaces as well as woodland. Shot on a Canon EOS 1Ds III with 24-70mm lens, this combo is not the usual choice for sports photography but as this was a controlled environment, lighting supplemented with a Profoto Acute battery Softlight reflector with grid. Thanks to Olympian Tony Whiteman for “modelling”.
The start of a larger project these initial images were shot on a 24mm shift lens, lit with 2 Profoto Battery heads, a large silver umbrella and a beauty dish.
The interior of the Stockport Plaza, recently used in a BBC drama about Morcambe & Wise, and now features on the front cover of Cinemas in Britain by Richard Gray. Shot using a Canon 17mm shift lens using HDR.
This interview was shot a Canon 5D II for Edukid. Sineth would not be able to study medicine without the support of fundraisers in the UK, inspired by his own upbringing in a slum village he is determined to give something back to his local community.
“I owe you a beer tonight…in fact I owe you several beers…” was the quote as we travelled through the rice fields near the Vietnam border to film for Edukid, (does what it says on the tin). In order to get to the village to meet our hosts we used various modes of transport including ox carts and motorbikes – oh and did I mention we got caught in a monsoon? One of the privileges of working in the charity sector is the opportunity to meet inspiring people, both at home and abroad, from the people who set up a trust to raise moeney to pay for education thousands of miles away to the teacher who started a school in her back yard when she was only 14 to the ex Khymer Rouge soldier running an orphanage.
Some of the stills taken during the week, interviews to follow soon.
Shot for Hull City Council, part of a series of panoramic images.
Any ideas? (there are two shots here). I’ll let you know if you are interested. Cool Radiohead album too…
Shot on a Sinar P3 and 4 Profoto heads – the steam is real too.
The remnants of my Christmas card shoot… (recipe will be included)
Shooting from the open window of a Mitsubishi again, this was my favourite of a series of panning shots. I like the pouting Madonna obsuring the drivers view. This image is one of several available as a limited edition print, (along with a book and DVD, no T-shirt). www.hullfreedomtrail.com
Dabbling with my new Canon EOS 5D mark II that shoots HD cinema-look video. Very exciting.
Sparklers from Mark Kensett on Vimeo.
Street kids are common in many of the towns and cities we stayed in, some in organised gangs. Nouadibou, Mauritania.
Often as photographers want to blend in and capture life un-noticed, this shot was a reaction to the camera – sometimes we create the shot.
Leaving the South of France – another 700 miles to do, to get to Murcia in Spain. Pictured here is the Cameraman/director for the journey, Claudio von Planta. You can see him on BBC2, Sunday evenings on By any Means. For more info on the project go to www.hullfreedomtrail.com
Two years ago today we left Europoort, Rotterdam to drive 740 miles to the South of France in 1 day, this was to be my view for the next three weeks, the car not the background, as I headed to Freetown, Sierra Leone with 24 “Trailblazers”.
Shot as part of a series featuring over 70 shops and businesses, the idea being to promote the local economy by highlighting the benefits of good quality, service and diversity. To see more: www.lovelocal.org.uk & www.markkensett.com./projects
In search of the Big Five…it’s harder than it looks this wildlife photography ;o)…taken at the Kariega Game Reserve, South Africa.
Caterham 7, 0-60 in about 4sec and alot of fun, for more see www.markkensett.com/projects
Nakaseke, Uganda. Stayed here for 4 nights while shooting for the Co-operative. Fantastic hospitality, breakfast underway.
Shot on the border between Mauritania and Senegal, this has a 60’s “Duip Sowth” feel about it. Shot en route to Sierra Leone.
Stitched together from 6 frames, the camera had to be moved about 4ft in order to avoid the barrier.