Phil Fisk - Ferrero Rocher
Phil created these wonderful portraits for an advertorial for FERRERO ROCHER in the Sunday Times featuring taste scientist and broadcaster Barry Smith (shot at his lab in the University of London), and some of the top chocolatiers at the Ferrero chocolate factory in Derby.
Huge thanks to Bridge Studios, stylist Vic Twyman and all the team who helped create these lovely images 🍫✨
Chris Floyd - Not Just Pictures / Guardian
Delighted to share this beautiful feature on “Not Just Pictures” by Chris Floyd, in this week’s Guardian, featuring selected portraits and stories - from Sheridan Smith to civil rights icon Claudette Colvin ❤️
“In his latest book, Not Just Pictures to be published by Reel Art Press, the celebrated British photographer shares more than 250 images of extraordinary people: Hollywood stars, artists, actors, athletes and musicians. Here, he tells the stories behind some of those shots. “
We’ve included selected extracts below, and you can see the full article here.
Chris Floyd - Not Just Pictures
Flock are thrilled to announce the publication of CHRIS FLOYD "NOT JUST PICTURES"
A stunning, first monograph dedicated to Chris’s 30-year career, published by Reel Art Press and released this week!!
Featuring over 200 photographs, it includes his sessions with Paul McCartney, David Attenborough, Debbie Harry, David Hockney, David Bowie, Marcus Rashford, Cate Blanchett, Oasis, Iggy Pop and many more. The photographs are accompanied by a collection of stories that paint a broader and often funnier picture of his oeuvre.
In Chris’s words… “For a long time people have told me how much they love reading what I write, as much as looking at the photographs I produce, and that they would love to own a book of this work and these tales. After nearly 30 years in the game, perhaps now is the time to parlay the most interesting, funny, odd, disturbing, confrontational, collaborative and life affirming photographic moments.”
"The man can talk. And he can write too. His book [is]... a handsome showcase for some of his most thrilling work. I can think of many excellent photography books, but none that pulls off this trick so convincingly; showing you the picture, and then, like a rogue magician, lifting the curtain and taking the reader behind the scenes for a glimpse of the delicate negotiations that went into its making."
Esquire
Every picture tells a story… and below is a small selection of the portraits featured in the book (each with a delicious tale to accompany it).
From L-R: Milla Jovovich, Anthony Bourdain, David Hockney, Blondie, Yoko Ono, Bill Murray, Aisling Bea, Helen McCrory, Thom Yorke, David Bowie, Robbie Williams, Oasis, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, David Attenborough, David Bailey, Robert de Niro and Nobu.
Lovely article on the book here.
Click on the links below to order your copy of Chris Floyd Not Just Pictures…
A signed copy from Chris’s local bookstore Jaffé & Neale.
Direct from the publisher Reel Art Press.
And if you'd like to catch Chris chatting about his book in person you can follow all his upcoming events here.
Phil Fisk - SKY / This England / Kenneth Branagh
We are delighted to share Phil Fisk’s compelling photographic commission for Michael Winterbottom’s six-part drama This England.
The series was recently released on SKY Atlantic, and follows the then prime minister Boris Johnson (played by the amazing Kenneth Branagh) and his government through the first wave of the pandemic.
Huge thanks to SKY, Revolution Films, Chris Roome for the retouching skills and everyone involved in creating these poignant images.
Chris Floyd - Harrods / 5 Chefs!
Such a lovely commission - 5 amazing chefs, photographed by Chris Floyd on the roof of Harrods in London, July 2022.
L to R: Jason Atherton, Dave Pynt, Philip Khoury, Angelo Musa, Tom Kerridge.
In Chris’s words… “One of the great, maybe the greatest, privileges of my job is that I get to spend legitimate time in the company of supremely talented people. This was one of those days. The five men here all gave me their time, with humour and curiosity, on one of the hottest goddamn days of the year, without seeming to release one drop of sweat into their immaculately pressed chef’s whites. And what was greatest of all about it was getting to listen to the five of them taking to each other about what they do, the language of their world, swapping tips and tricks.”
Joseph Ford - Denis Meyers / MAUSA Vauban and an Invisible Jumper 🧶
Proof that good things come to those who wait…!
In early 2020, Nina Dodds started knitting this sweater, based on a design street artist Denis Meyers created to match his installation at MAUSA Vauban (Museum of Urban and Street Art).
Joseph was supposed to travel to Alsace to photograph Denis wearing the jumper at the end of March 2020, but Covid had other ideas. The shoot was rescheduled for March 2021 but the pandemic put a halt to that plan too.
Finally, in March 2022 Denis and Joseph got to shoot this stunning portrait for Joseph’s INVISIBLE JUMPERS project.
Can you read the words on the sweater? Scroll down for a closer look! 🔍
Phil Fisk - Ramaswami
Part 2 of Phil’s stunning ALLOTMENT series featuring eccentrics found among the vegetable patches… 🌽🥦🥕 📻 🥬🥒🌶
“Ramaswami Krishnan acquired his allotment to save his marriage. Their house was overflowing with electronic equipment that he had saved from the street and car boot sales since the 1980’s. He retired as a physics teacher twenty years ago and started repairing and taking apart early computers. But the small Victorian terrace soon filled up and he was forced to find a shed of some kind, as long as it was “away from the house”…! By chance a family friend offered a share in his allotment and now old technology and horticulture exist side by side. Kris, as he likes to be called, is yet to fully embrace the digging and planting but he is happy in his new home and there is “finally, peace at home.”
Thanks for the wonderful casting Sue Odell, props by the amazing Vic Twyman and awesome job by all the team 👏
Phil Fisk - Elena
We’re delighted to share a stunningly beautiful new personal project by Phil Fisk…
“Elena comes to her allotment every day in all weathers. She took over the plot when her son left home and found she had all this time to herself once more. She remembered growing up in Lithuania in the early 1950s and working on the family smallholding. They had pigs and ducks and her father made his own “Namine”, a homemade form of Poitín or moonshine, which was his escape from the hardships and life without a wife and mother. Elena would escape to the woods full of moss and berries that she would collect and dry. She would store these along with feathers, egg shells, seeds and twigs in a jewellery box her mother left. As she grew older, she would create intricate brooches and headdresses and wander the dark forest as someone else, somewhere else. In the quiet, she would dream of leaving and moving west.”
Huge thanks to all the team, not least of all Vic Twyman for the superb prop styling and wardrobe, the incredible Sue Odell for the awesome casting, and of course to model Alex Bruni who brings more than a little magic to these images ✨
Phil Fisk - Paula Rego
In 2018, Phil Fisk photographed the internationally-celebrated artist Dame Paula Rego, who sadly passed away this week aged 87.
Phil remembered the shoot, commissioned by the Observer, as a very special day. He had the freedom to explore her studio and he recalls that she was willing to take his direction for the portraits…
“I asked her to close her eyes and she just commented that it would give her the opportunity to dream for minute to two. She was very frail and I think tired, but determined to smile and make us welcome.”
Please read her full obituary here.
Chris Floyd - Photo North / "The Verve: Inside the Bubble & Half a Lifetime Ago" Exhibition
We wanted to shine a spotlight on "THE VERVE: INSIDE THE BUBBLE & HALF A LIFETIME AGO”, Chris Floyd's headline exhibition at PHOTO NORTH last month (apologies for the late post!).
“It has been 20 years since the colossal global success of The Verve's era-defining Urban Hymns, and it remains one of the biggest-selling British albums of all time. Photographer Chris Floyd was embedded with the band during their meteoric rise from late 1996 to 1997. He documented the recording, touring and promoting of the album in Britain, Ireland and the US--the only photographer to have such access. This is the first time his photographs from that period have been published, with most completely unseen.”
We love this extract from the accompanying text:
“Backstage at The Warfield, San Francisco. The man who designed so many of the great posters of the psychedelic era comes in to meet the band. They discuss the idea of him designing one for The Verve. Richard Ashcroft points at Chris. “If you need any pictures of us to work from then get them from him. He’s on the road with us, taking our souls away every night with his camera.” “Yeah,” adds bassist Simon Jones, “but we get them back on contact sheets.”
Huge thanks to Sharon Price and Peter Dench who organised the festival 👏
Full details here.
And for details about Chris’s publication “The Verve - Photographs by Chris Floyd”, described by Wallpaper magazine as “one nostalgia-filled collectors item not to be missed”, click here.
Shot of Chris Floyd at the exhibition captured by 2021 RPS Documentary Photographer of the Year, David Collyer.
Phil Fisk - Wes Streeting / Observer
Phil Fisk photographs Wes Streeting in Ilford for Observer.
The shadow minster for health and social care is a rising star, touted as a future leader of the Labour Party. Article here.
Chris Floyd - Margaret Drabble / Idler
CHRIS FLOYD captures the legendary novelist MARGARET DRABBLE last month for IDLER.
The shoot took place at her home of 50 years in West London, (which was purchased as a separate upstairs and downstairs flat, and remains so to this day - each flat with its own front door!) The decor is also as purchased.
The painting on the wall above her is a portrait of herself, her late daughter Rebecca, and her husband biographer Michael Holroyd (Chris misplaced the name of the artist so if anyone knows please tell us!).
The images accompany a lovely article written by Idler editor Tom Hodgkinson, discussing the art of napping, jigsaws and the particle accelerator at CERN (amongst others things)…!
Phil Fisk - Angela Hartnett / Observer
PHIL FISK photographs Michelin-starred chef ANGELA HARTNETT for OBSERVER, surrounded by fresh produce and bathed in spring light in the kitchen of her Georgian home in East London's Spitalfields.
Joseph Ford - Arnold Worldwide Part 2
We’re delighted to share a few more of the images from Joseph’s recent healthcare campaign photographed in USA with Arnold Worldwide.
Joseph Ford - Arnold Worldwide
After seeing his Invisible Jumpers project, ARNOLD WORLDWIDE commissioned Joseph to work on a multifaceted campaign for a pharmaceutical skin care product including stills, cinemagraphs and films, using the wardrobe and location design techniques he’d developed for his personal project. Shot on location over a two month period in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and California, using real patients in both camouflaged and lifestyle scenarios, Joseph produced over 80 final assets including stills and cinemagraphs.
The overall look of the camouflage areas were developed by Joseph to ensure the patients would melt into their backgrounds and created the wardrobe brief for both stills and TVC.
The shooting process included several remote shoots completed from the UK with a live stream from the camera on set, directing models and lighting whilst his assistant in the USA physically triggered the camera. Stills and cinemagraph post-production was managed by Joseph and Flock for the US agency.
Here’s one of the concepts in full, where the twin swimmers are camouflaged and hidden in their environment to their full reveal post-treatment, living their best lives.
Joseph Ford - AOP Awards / Cows!
We are delighted to announce that Joseph Ford’s moooo-ving image portrayal of farmer Chris and his cows is a finalist in the 2022 AOP Awards Lifestyle category. 🐮 👏
Phil Fisk - The Grove - still lives...
Simple and symbolic portraits of a place…
These still life shots of DIY skate ramps and structures, environment and community, were captured by Phil Fisk at The Grove DIY in South London, the setting for his beautiful AOP 2022 Awards nominated documentary film (see next post).
Phil Fisk - The Grove / AOP Awards
During the lockdowns of 2020 (when official skateparks were closed), a group of enterprising skaters found an abandoned car park near the South Circular and established the beginnings of “The Grove”…
Phil Fisk captured the story of the space in this wonderful film, which we are delighted to announce is a finalist in the Documentary Category at this year’s AOP Awards
In an abandoned pub carpark on the A205 in South London, local kids were creating ramps and an assortment of skate park structures, splicing old gas canisters, wooden planks, pallets, bags of cement, rubble, drinks cans, abandoned sofas - anything and everything, to create their own home-grown skatepark - and likewise establish a safe place for themselves, away from the traffic, the pandemic and authority.
Safe… if you discount the odd broken wrist and elbow graze.
Safe… as an outdoor space where anyone with or without a board could hang out.
Initially they were chased away by security guards but soon found support for their endeavours from local residents, councillors and even Dulwich College Estate who own the land.
Phil filmed the steady transformation of the abandoned space, during the days and nights as winter drew in - “trying to capture the atmosphere, tricks (and constructions) as they happened without interfering with the natural flow of the space.”
The film opens with a shot of the sun coming up over a large tree… set against a soundscape of distant traffic, scrapes and clatters, skateboard wheels rolling over concrete and snippets of caught conversation, the resulting film is beautiful, contemplative and ultimately hopeful…
Phil hopes it, “feels something like a compressed day in the life of The Grove in which 6 months feels like 24 hours.”
Although the future is uncertain, it looks as if, for now, The Grove is here to stay…
Chris Floyd - RES / "Even A Child Could Understand It"
A thought provoking short film by CHRIS FLOYD commissioned by global renewable energy company RES, featuring the wonderful CONNIE SAVORETTI.
So simple… ‘Even A Child Could Understand It'…