Phil Fisk - Ollie Stewart / House of St Barnabas / Observer

PHIL shoots OLLIE STEWART for OBSERVER. Stewart is employment manager at HOUSE OF ST BARNABAS, the private members club in Central London which also operates as a homeless charity, offering training for those who have been, or currently are homeless. During the pandemic they have been supporting 'members' in collaboration with OAPA (Only A Pavement Away) to help them navigate job loss, pay reductions and to keep them safely off the streets. Full article here.

Chris Floyd - Idler / Vic Reeves

Chris shoots Vic Reeves at his home studio in Kent for The Idler Magazine.

"Although when you're in his home studio you don't call him Vic. You call him Jim because Jim's his real name. Jim Moir, like Goya".

Jim has just produced a new book called Vic Reeves Art Book, a sumptuous compendium of his drawings and paintings from the last two or three years.

Full article here. The book is available from all good bookshops.

Chris Floyd - Stylist / Sian Clifford, Sharon Horgan and Waad al-Kateab

A few months ago CHRIS FLOYD captured portraits of SIAN CLIFFORD, SHARON HORGAN and WAAD AL KATEAB for the STYLIST / REMARKABLE WOMEN AWARDS.

CHRIS spent a memorable afternoon on shoot having “a complete laugh with this lady and her massive cake!”… aka SHARON HORGAN, actor and Bafta-winning writer behind razor sharp comedies such as Catastrophe, Motherland and Divorce.

SIAN CLIFFORD, aka Fleabag’s sister Claire, recently played Diana Ingram in ‘Quiz’, the terrific 3-parter on ITV.

For five years WAAD AL-KATEAB filmed the conflict in the Syrian city of Aleppo for her feature documentary ‘FOR SAMA’ which has received numerous awards including the Prix L’Œil d’Or for Best Documentary at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the SXSW Film Festival, and the Special Jury Prize for International Feature Documentary at the Hot Docs Festival. It is a deeply powerful film and “a rare first hand account of war, from a strictly female perspective”.

Phil Fisk - Observer / Chefs in Schools

In a new term after the challenges of lockdown, the charity CHEFS IN SCHOOLS is providing 11,000 London students with fresh, nutritious and creative food.

PHIL FISK captured these awesome chefs, (who previously worked at St John and Nopi) in action at Woodmansterne School, Lambeth and Little Jungle Nursery in Dulwich for OBSERVER.

School dinners are definitely not how we remember them…!

Chris Floyd - Men's Health - Fighting Spirit

For a story in the May issue of MEN'S HEALTH, CHRIS FLOYD was commissioned to photograph several British servicemen who have all endured PTSD in one form or another.

"How do you fight an enemy you can't see? One that can infiltrate every base, aircraft carrier and submarine and strike down a teenage cadet in the safety of his barracks yet is just as able to lie in wait for months, or even years, before dealing a fatal blow, long after a soldier has exited the theatre of war and even the military itself? Between 2014 and 2018, hostile action accounted for the deaths of 2 servicemen. Over the same period, at least 49 UK service personnel died as a result of suicide.”

Phil Fisk - Observer / Alice Dearing

Open water swimmer and hopeful for the 2021 Olympics, ALICE DEARING, photographed by Phil Fisk at a secluded lake in Surrey during early lockdown.

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Here's an extract from the accompanying article in the Observer:

It sounds scarcely believable in modern, multiracial Britain but nearly a century after the sprinter Jack London became the first black athlete to win an Olympic medal for Britain in 1928, and more than 40 years since Viv Anderson became the first black footballer to start for England, Team GB has never sent a black female swimmer to an Olympic Games. Not one.

But next summer Alice Dearing, a 23-year-old from Birmingham who is Britain’s best open-water swimmer, intends to flip 125 years of history on its head in Tokyo – the small matter of a global pandemic permitting. And, as becomes clear over a thought-provoking and nuanced conversation, that is only the start of her ambitions.

“Being a poster girl for black swimming is exciting, because genuinely I love the sport and I want to see as many people doing it as possible,” Dearing says. “But it’s also terrifying because there’s a lot of pressure. I have rationalised it – if not me, then who? And I want this to happen as soon as possible, to break that barrier.”

It is not the only one Dearing intends to shatter. Last year she became the lead ambassador for the Black Swimming Association, a charity that encourages black people to swim, and she illustrates the scale of the challenge by citing shocking figures from Sport England, which show that 95% of black adults and 80% of black children in England do not swim – while only 1% of registered competitive swimmers with Swim England identify as black or mixed race.

“Things need to speed up absolutely everywhere,” she says. “You can’t just have elite swimmers come from absolutely nowhere. So our focus is on the learn-to-swim side. Because eventually, you’ll see that change as you get more county swimmers then regional, national, international and then eventually, hopefully, more black Olympians.”

Chris Floyd - Patrick Hutchinson for Men's Health

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Photographed for Men’s Health, Patrick Hutchinson, icon of the midsummer BLM protests in London. He and his friends, Chris Otokito, Jamaine Facey, Pierre Noah and Lee Russell, a group of martial arts practitioners and security professionals, attended the demonstration with a shared purpose; to keep the peace. But when Patrick was snapped rescuing a Black Lives Matter counter protester, the white man hoisted over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift, surrounded by a mob, his life changed instantly and irrevocably.
From left to right in the second picture below: Chris, Lee, Pierre, Patrick (standing), Jamaine (seated)
A short version of Paul Wilson’s interview with the five men can be read here. The full interview will feature in the September issue.

 

Chris Floyd - Men's Health - PPE

CHRIS FLOYD shoots on location during lockdown for MEN’S HEALTH for a feature on 3 British manufacturers who have repurposed their production lines to create items of PPE for the NHS during the Covid 19 crisis.

COMMUNITY CLOTHING in Blackburn, Lancashire, who usually manufacture beautifully made items of affordable, sustainable and ethical men’s and women’s clothing turned their business towards making urgently needed NHS scrubs.

STAEGER CLEAR in Coventry switched from making things like shirt collar stiffeners and Easter egg cases to making a face visor of their own design.

INTERFLEX in Nottingham had also halted all their normal plastic packaging work and were producing disposable plastic aprons at a phenomenal rate.

A staggering and inspirational contribution from all 3 companies, especially as their undertakings were in the face of significant bureaucratic and logistical challenges. WE SALUTE YOU!

For inspiration, Chris took the 1950s photography of the great Maurice Broomfield, who so beautifully documented the last golden age of British manufacturing. “I’ve loved Broomfield’s work for a long time and this seemed like the obvious opportunity to pay tribute to it.”

Phil Fisk - Normal People / Observer

PHIL FISK squeezed in this shoot with DAISY EDGAR JONES and PAUL MESCAL for the OBSERVER just before lockdown.

The stars of the BBC adaptation of SALLY ROONEY's 'NORMAL PEOPLE' have had us glued to our screens during these days of sequestration. Compelling chemistry, perfectly curated soundtrack, Marianne's impeccable wardrobe and plentiful opportunities for perusing Connell's chain (which even has its own instagram account with over 100k followers)!

"All I can say is that Daisy and Paul have a pure chemistry, unforced and beautiful. At times I found myself wishing I was that age again, such was their energy on shoot..." Phil Fisk

Chris Floyd - Stylist / Shauna Coxsey

HANGING IN THERE...
CHRIS FLOYD photographs OLYMPIC climbing hopeful SHAUNA COXSEY for the 500th issue of STYLIST MAGAZINE.

"A few weeks ago I travelled up to Sheffield on a freezing cold morning to spend the day inside a building made entirely of chipboard and leftover bits of furniture adornment from the Memphis Milano design movement. Inside we were thrilled by the sight of Shauna Coxsey, in the finest SS20 fashions, as she clambered and scampered over every surface of the chipboard palace in this shoot for the 500th issue of Stylist Magazine."

Styling by Helen Atkin.

Phil Fisk - Selby Brothers / Observer

THE BROTHERS GOURMET…

How much cooking talent can one family contain?

THEO, LUKE & NAT, otherwise known as THE SELBY BROTHERS - with an assortment of awards, accolades and Michelin stars between them - are opening a new restaurant (name tbd) with just 12 covers, in central London in April...  Photographed by PHIL FISK for OFM.

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