Jewish Book Week 2014
Having taken photos at Jewish Book Week in 2013, I was pleased to be invited back to cover two or three sessions at this year’s event. Lasting about 10 days (I think they call it a book week because it’s catchier than a book 10 days!) and offering 64 separate events, it really is quite an impressive feat of organisation at King’s Place in King’s Cross, London.
This year I was tasked with photographing a few sessions. The first of which was a talk by William Sutcliffe about his book, The Wall, in the smallest room of the three used for the event. The lighting in the room isn’t great and with flash not permitted, I was quite pleased with the results I got from using the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L II handheld with an ISO around 2000.
The next evening I returned to photograph a talk with holocaust survivor, Otto Dov Kulka and journalist Simon Schama discussing Kulka’s book, Landscapes Of The Metropolis of Death. In the lovely large concert hall at King’s Place, this was a great session. Otto is an amazing man and I really should read his book.
Immediately following that session I moved into the third and final room, where the announcement of the winner of the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Literary Prize was due to take place. An interesting panel discussed the shortlisted books and then proceeded to announce the aforementioned author, Otto Dov Kulka, as the winner for his book which had been featured earlier that evening in the previous session.
I finally returned on one last day to cover a great session featuring Eve Harris, who wrote a book called ‘The Marriage Of Chani Kaufman’ and a Sikh author called Sathnam Sanghera, who wrote a book called 'The Boy With The Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton’. The books shared similar themes despite coming from two different religions and backgrounds. Following that I caught a little of a session by author Irving Finkel about his book, 'The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood’.
Below are a few of my favourite pics from the event.
The Tinder Launch Party @ Cirque Le Soir, London
Man was I happy to get this gig?! The most talked about dating app of the year (yes it's been around about a year), Tinder, was having its official UK launch party, and it was to take place in one of the most hyped London clubs, Cirque Le Soir. Yes!
The night did not disappoint. There were Tinder beach balls, popcorn and sunglasses, a free Vodka Red Bull for ever guest and more strange/crazy/weird burlesque entertainers than you could shake a fiery sparkler at. And there were a few fiery sparklers...
I appreciated this lady's safety precautions when handling a firework indoors.
Cirque Le Soir London is a brilliant club, full of circus themed paraphernalia. A photo booth, popcorn machine, peep show, official beer pong table and some unique entertainers all make for a very fun night indeed.
Out of the entertainers there was a midget with a pig mask (charming I know) and numerous fire dancers (fire being the Tinder brand icon).
I was wondering in advance if this party would turn into one big orgy, what with Tinder being the 'hook up' app. It didn't. It was rather tame for the first few hours, although after midnight I gather it did become a bit like a school disco with people eating each other's faces in most dark corners of the club.
Anyway, I had a brilliant time in the few hours I was there taking photos - a big shout out to Jenna Levy at Social Seen for making the event happen. If you want more of an insight into the night itself, I suggest you check out the video on YouTube.
Muffin Break!
Earlier this month I was asked to photograph the opening of a new branch of the Australian cafe chain, Muffin Break in Southside shopping centre, Wandsworth. It's the first branch in London, so it was quite a big deal for the company.
There were staff a plenty, loads of baked treats and good coffee all on offer for the folks who were passing through Southside on that Friday morning.
The work was on behalf of agency Ware Anthony Rust, who are based in Cambridge. They managed to find a very local photographer on this occasion as I'm based about a 3 minute bus ride away in Clapham Junction.
Check out a few of my favourite images from the morning opening.
AJEX March 2013 on Whitehall London
Each year I head down to Whitehall on the sunday after Remembrance Sunday in November to photograph the AJEX March. AJEX is the Association for Jewish Ex Servicemen and Servicewomen.
I'm very proud to say my grandfather, having served in the Royal Navy, is the parade commander each year, meaning he leads the parade and tells them to stand to attention a few times. I like to go along to take photos of him and all the other men and women who served their country.
I love being a photojournalist on these occasions and documenting all that goes on. This year his Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent was in attendance too with his brilliant white beard.
Last year a couple of my photos were published in the Jewish Chronicle newspaper. Not this year, as they had an official photographer who was able to roam free. Regardless, here are a few of my favourite shots from this year's march.
