Took rehearsal photograph of 'The Bacchae' last night which is a youth theatre project from Nuffield Theatre, Southampton. Tim Ford directs and he continues his very high standards that he set with 'Women of Troy' at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Tim is the closest director I know who ploughs a similar furrow to Kneehigh Theatre. Not that he copies them but that there is a common language to his shows, an incredible energy from his cast, always an amazing sound score and underscore from live musician/actors and - crucially - there's never a second wasted on stage.Tim left Birmingham Rep to get main house theatre experience and I don't think it will be long before the rest of the country hears about him.
James Smith is a law degree graduate about to embark on the 1 year MA Acting course at Birmingham School of Acting. The school have told their MA students that they expect them to have a 10x8 done soon after the course starts so James has taken advantage of my (generous) £75 student offer and ticked that particular box before he strictly needed to. Always good to meet the next acting generation and follow (hopefully) their progress.
Rachel Sambrooks is one of those great Birmingham practitioners who make things happen: writer, actor, director and producer of Blossom theatre company. I first came across Rachel last year when her a play of hers was given a rehearsed reading at The Rep theatre by Script (who sadly closed down last Friday). The latest thing to happen in Rachels' world was to become resident theatre director and actor of Birmingham Art Gallery.
I've been known to get my hands dirty by directing plays at the Crescent Theatre but The Birthday Party is slightly different in that my involvement is as an actor. Haven't acted seriously for a few years now and it's good to check in with a play from an actors perspective. Think it will help with both directing and my photography. If anyone knows the play I'm playing Stanley: a rather tormented soul. Come and see the results at the Crescent in early October.
Keeley is an experienced actress based in Birmingham and we had a really good, fun headshot session last week. It's interesting how somehow the 2 - seemingly disparate - worlds of theatre and wedding photography can converge. I met Keeley first of all at a wedding and actually a lot of my favourite shots of that day involved her: there was something about her personality and large eyes that camera was attracted to.
Gerard is a very special headshot client because he was the first person to entrust me with taking pictures of a wedding. When you have no experience of such an important occasion its quite humbling to be thought of and I was very grateful for the opportunity. Gerard is a very talented MD and actor / musician and wanted a new headshot as his current one had begun to look a lot younger than him! It's always good to be reminded of how many talented actors there are in the city even if we struggle to establish Birmingham as a base for such people to live and work from.
Kayleigh has just graduated from De Montford University and is wasting no time in launching her assault on the acting industry. Theatres and Casting Directors across the country can expect to find this headshot of Kayleigh in their Inbox soon.
I've been away for a few days staying with friends for a much needed break in Marigny Le Cahouet, Burgundy. I had a really fabulous time in a breathtakingly beautiful part of the world. So apologies for the lack of updates but I thought I'd share an image from my stay: Bruno is the youngest son of my friends Andrew and Lorna and this is him dancing on a hay bale. Thanks to his brother Reuben for setting up the shot.
Just found out that this image will be used on the poster for the forthcoming restaging of 'Radio Z' by Stans Cafe at the Warwick Arts Centre in October. Nice excuse to re-post a production picture of one my favourite theatre events of the year.
Jeetender is a student of acting. Not a drama student but a thinking actor who is always looking to learn from any aspect of the industry. I enjoy all my headshot sessions - everyone brings something that is interesting to me - but few have thought so much about the nature of headshots and what makes a great 10x8. This image, for example, was just the 7th picture taken in the session and that can't be achieved unless a great deal of preparation was undertaken by the actor. I'll always recommend looking at other headshots on Casting Call Pro and trying to work out what makes the good ones stand out. Of course, this means that you'll also work out why poor headshots aren't successful. All in all, with that amount of preparation, it will take less time to get what you need during the actual session.
Coventry based actor Jasper Kang came to me for an updated headshot after 3 years since his last 10x8s were taken. Probably one of the strongest areas of casting in Birmingham is for Asian looking actors. The best example of this would be 'East is East' being cast by the REP in Birmingham, when they normally use casting agents in London (who then cast from the much larger pool of actors down there). I hope theatres such as the REP give local actors more of a chance to shine on the main stage but that's a subject for another blog another time. In the mean time, I wish Jasper the very best of luck for upcoming auditions.
Jennifer is a Birmingham actor who needed an updated headshot: requested by Gazebo Theatre-In-Education company who she has worked for for 8 years. Her previous 10x8 was taken over 10 years ago but as Jennifer has worked in TIE constantly since that time (something that she loves) she didn't really need a headshot in order to send to prospective theatre employees. Always interesting to me to get to know someone in a few hours and get a hint of their personality into a black and white 10x8. I think we've captured a spark of Jennifers lovely personality in this shot and a clue as to why she's never out of work in a very demanding sector of the theatre industry.
Whilst I'm still going through the pictures I took at the weekend for Tracy and Raimund I thought I'd put up another image that caught my eye.
As most theatres are now 'dark' for the summer it gives me some opportunity to post some images of my other work that ordinarily wouldn't be shown here. It was through my work for Birmingham REP theatre that I was asked to take pictures of Tracy and Raimund wedding at St Annes, Moseley and The Studio in Cannon Street yesterday. What a fantastic day and I've only just started going through the pictures that we did. Here though is a sneak peek.
I said in my last headshot blog entry that one of the joys of my job was meeting people with ambition and who make things happen. Andy Cooper from Rugby is one such person. He's graduated from Coventry University and has now received a scholarship to do his MA there in setting up a theatre company. He has already founded 'Twisted Chimp' theatre company though and received rave reviews for his piece called 'Traffic' - a piece set in 3 cars for 9 people per performance. He's now looking for places (possibly Glastonbury '11) where 'Traffic' might be performed again as well as seeking work as an actor.
