alex rumford 15/12/2014 alex rumford 15/12/2014

2014 in pictures

A selection of commissions from 2014

I've been doing a *lot* of corporate portraits this year. But in the interest of keeping it interesting, I think one is probably more than enough, and then we can move on. I took this only a few weeks ago:

The next image was of Joey, from War Horse, who visited the poppy installation - Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red - at the Tower of London with writer Michael Murpurgo. I've "met" Joey a couple of times now. He stamps and flinches; he gets nervous around people (despite his size); even the puppeteer in charge of his harness sometimes struggles to keep him under control - or so it seems, such is the skill with which they bring him to life. I feel nervous walking behind him, as if he could kick me. Anyway, the reaction from the crowds was fantastic - moving, even - and many of the pictures went viral. Unfortunately, it was one of those shoots where I can't take much credit, as it would be hard not to take a decent shot. given the subject matter. This was my favourite:

I work a lot with Mousetrap Theatre Projects, a wonderful charity who educate and inspire young people, getting them access to and involvement in theatre. One of many projects and programs they run, I've photographed a number of "Relaxed Performances", where you have families who might not otherwise ever get to see shows. Here, Matilda was actually put on by the RSC - and it went down a treat. Other slideshow images are from one of Mousetrap's workshops. And below that is Michael Ball, helping raise money at one of their fundraisers.

I covered some dance:

One of my favourite commissions of the year might was stock photography around Central London, for a commercial property developer. People, buildings, details - that sort of thing. I had a shot list to include certain locations and landmarks, but apart from this I was free to wander off track with vague and occasional detours, just looking for interesting photographs:

I love portraits, and was fortunate enough to spend a few days shooting case studies - lecturers and students, mainly - who use a Virtual Learning platform (Canvas). We filmed and photographed at a few locations including the University of Birmingham and Norway's University of Science and Technology, Trondheim:

I did some portraits on the set of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with playwright Simon Stephens ahead of its opening on Broadway. Writer Mark Haddon (not shown) was also there. Despite the minimalist set and extremely short time allowed, it was one of those sessions where you leave heavy-hearted because you feel you missed the shot. Black walls, dotted lights, white cubes, mathematics lines - it's a great set you could do a lot with. Or not?

And there were some other case-study/interview portraits. Which are kind of corporate, actually. Sorry about that, I did promise no more:

Create Victoria held four days of free events and workshops, including a DJ masterclass (rear-curtain flash - first time in years, and it shows!), an early-morning fitness session, a rooftop art class, a musical theatre lesson, and a textile upcycling workshop. It was hard work:

Sometimes you get great access - I visited a facility in Birmingham where millions of wills are stored. These are now available to search online, and I photographed some of the more famous ones, including those of Charlie Chaplin, Charles Darwin, Lady Diana, Michael Faraday, Dr. Crippen, J.R.R. Tolkein, Alan Turing, A.A. Milne, Beatrix Potter and George Orwell:

And I'll leave you with some images, again from a Mousetrap workshop, of an activity nobody seemed to understand, but was a lot of fun:

Alex Rumford 09/01/2014 Alex Rumford 09/01/2014

2013 in pictures

A selection of commissions from 2013

It's now well into January. I was too late getting to this, and made the mistake of looking at friends' 2013 roundups.

Their work, I decided, is far more interesting than mine, shooting as they do news, celebs, fashion, and war. I did a lot of corporate portraits.

The quality of the work I saw was outstanding, too. On the other hand, I only took two photographs this year I liked, and they've been on my website for six months so I didn't feel like publishing them again.

So I decided not to post anything, and a fortnight later I think there's something very wrong with that attitude. So in no particular order, here's some of the work I did in 2013:

alex rumford 31/12/2012 alex rumford 31/12/2012

2012 in pictures

A selection of commissions from 2012

It's been months since my last post. Instead of my usual ramblings, I wanted to show you a small selection of the things I've been working on this year.

January

This is a portrait I shot of actress Louise Torres Ryan:

February

This photograph was from an event by the charity AgeUK, who held their "Internet Champion of the Year" award at the Royal Society:

March

Since I'm in the AgeUK folder, this one's from a conference of theirs a few weeks later, here with chair Diane Jeffrey speaking:

April

Coca-Cola unveiled their 'Beat Fleet', a handful of customised, branded vehicles which were to accompany the Olympic torch on its relay around the country. This particular one blasted out music - and was the natural choice for the (inevitable) group photo. The picture below it shows all the vehicles together:

Sticking with the red theme, there was the Lloyds "Money for Life" challenge which took place at Wembley:

May

The 'Beatbox' (Coca-Cola's pavilion at the Olympic stadium) featured dozens of huge electronic panels designed by architects Pernilla Ohrstedt and Asif Khan. Putting your hands near, over, or on the surface created differing symphonies of incredible rhythmic sounds taken from Olympic sports (table tennis balls bouncing, feet pounding, arrows hitting a target). Very cool. Here they are with one of the panels:

Then there was a monthly food market, which needed a few stock images to help boost its profile:

And then there was a PR shoot for Sainsbury's (and yes, they are tomatoes). And below that, DFS opened a flagship store on Tottenham Court Road.

June

Here's one from Coca-Cola again. I was sent to photograph their operations at the Olympic park:

And there were some corporate portraits for a new client:

July

An event at Facebook's HQ in Covent Garden (I have since found it is impossible not to 'check-in' on a visit):

August

I covered the Havering show; here's a slideshow of a few photos from the day:

September

A product launch for Dell:

And I did some portraits for the charity, Tomorrow's People:

October

It started off with the "World Cafe", a conference idea I'd not seen before. Although I've already shown work for AgeUK, I wanted to put this up this because it was different, being comprised of a series of intimate four-to-a-table, round-table discussions with attendees continually changing places. Kind of like intellectual speed-dating.

November

Some portraits of a pianist and her trio:

A photography exhibition and a launch party:

A youth production of Watership Down:

I photographed a day care centre and a few of the volunteers, patrons and associates:

Lastly, The Mousetrap, the world's longest-running play, reached its 25,000th performance on its 60th anniversary. The mark the occasion, a one-off star-studded cast put on the show, all part of a fundraiser auction for the amazing Mousetrap Theatre Projects. The party continued at the Garrick club: