International Women's Day

Landsec commissioned me to take portraits of ten staff members at their offices in Victoria. We had a room reserved, and were free to use any available locations in the vicinity (ie reception, foyer & cafe) as well as Cardinal Place, their adjacent retail centre and outdoor public space.

Poor weather meant we couldn’t shoot outside, so the issue was about getting a good variety with limited indoor options. This became increasingly difficult as the day went on. Happily, all the ladies were very generous with their time (and their patience). Here’s a selection from the shoot:

International Women's Day

Landsec commissioned me to take portraits of staff for International Women's Day today, March 8th. Some of these accompany their interviews about the experience of working in an industry perceived to be male-dominated. Here is the article, and here are some of the images:

Property brochure

My post a few weeks back on an advertising image for Land Securities reminded me of a shoot from back in 2014. I wasn't blogging regularly then; I neglectfully buried the images in a grid as part of a round-up post of my year's work. So it's a TBT. 

The brief was to spend time around the central London areas of Aldgate, St Pauls, Fleet Street and Chancery Lane, where Land Securities has properties and ongoing developments. They required imagery of the buildings, shops, interesting asides, key sights -and the general feel and atmosphere - for a brochure and some other materials.

I loved this shoot - I had freedom over my schedule and route, and while there were some required shots, I was mostly left to my own devices as to what else to capture and how to photograph it. Apart from seeking a few permissions, I barely spoke to anyone for two days!

I'd done a couple of recces to plan the route, locate the main areas of interest, and see how the light was for the more architectural and wider scene shots at the different times of day. But still, so often I found myself winding around and double-backing on myself, getting lost around backstreets and frequently sidetracked with details I'd not noticed. I delivered a small library of photos in the end, very much an interwoven document of the area, but with a number of shots which I felt stood alone. 

Here's a (small-ish) selection of some of my favourite ones - enjoy! 

Create Victoria

I usually like to look up my work when it's been published, especially when it's something I'm proud of or feel particularly invested in. 

There's a huge, ongoing development by Land Securities at Victoria. They're currently working on the Nova building. Land Securities are a regular client of mine, and I'd shot this for them a few years ago (I preferred this version) for a press release. It was perhaps two years later when they decided that it could work well with this rather large advertising hoarding at Nova, and wanted to use it again. 

Which I then completely forgot about, until I happened to pass it on my way to a shoot some months later.

It was a nice surprise: so much of what we do stays online - it's lovely to see work used in the real world so prominently. 

Sky Garden

Something a little different - I was commissioned to refresh images at 20 Fenchurch Street (the "Walkie Talkie"), both of and from their lovely rooftop Sky Garden. It's well worth a visit - and it's free (but you do have to book). 

Bees

I covered a series of pubic events at Victoria for Land Securities. The most interesting of which was a beekeeping session. Actually, even 'fascinating' doesn't do the lives of bees justice - they are incredible little creatures. Anyway, there's a happy colony at St. Ermin's Hotel‎, living on a balcony space, making honey and generally having a good time.

Victoria

Victoria Street from the top of Westminster Cathedral: