TA- Andy Greenacre Talk

Andy Greenacre Talk - Wednesday 16th October

On Wednesday, we had a talk by Andy Greenacre, who works at the Daily Telegraph, about the industry, what he has done throughout his career and a lot of tips and allowing us to understand various types of work. We were given so much information over the day and I took as many notes as I could about everything that was spoken and here are the notes:

About Him:

- Director of photography at the Daily Telegraph

- Did a degree in Art History at Manchester University - 1988-91

- Between 1991-92 he gained work experience with Magnum photos and the mail on Sunday's picture desk

- In 1992 Andy took a year out to travel and one the images taken throughout the journey made it on the front cover of a book by Norman Lewis.

- After a failed attempt at being a photographer in 93, he worked at the Queens Gallery gift shop

- After leaving the gift shop, Andy gained a job at Magnum picture gallery and was surrounded by so many Iconic images that were full of amazing photographers. Boxes of prints were colour coded so yellow would be social affairs etc and everything had a specific home.

- 2 years working in the archive and they changed his job to be able to place work in the national press and magazines just like he does now.

- Then freelanced for around 5 years as a researcher before working for The Times and then ended up working for the Telegraph magazine which he still works for now.

History of the magazine:

- The first issue of the Telegraph magazine was 25th September 1964 on a weekend where many of the big issues occurring around the world were added on the cover.

- Social issues were addressed such as Jackie Kennedy a year after JFK was assassinated

- Fashion was a major part of every magazine

- In the 1980s, crisper images started to occur as photography starts to get better and colour starts to become bolder. The content doesn't seem to change even though the photography does so the target audience stayed the same and the issues that were occurring were still being shown throughout.

- The covers that were published in the 80's are ones that most likely wouldn't be acceptable now such as playboy covers, sexism etc.

- 1990's was all about portraiture/portrait images that are both bold and loud and focused mainly around celebrities as well as the most popular around the decade. The photography started to become more relatable with the audience making sure that the political and social issues such as 'Gunnation' a book by Zed Nelson which is a rather disturbing image yet so powerful and bold.

- In the 2000's, the Telegraph teamed up with the BAFTAS around the time it was due on TV and advertised various celebrities that were nominated which allowed people to know that the awards were soon to be shown on screen. For example, one of the covers were of Jude Law and Ewan McGregor in bed.

Quick notes on portraiture:

- Maya Hawke black and white image by Pari- They thought it didn't work as well as they wanted because she isn't looking at the camera and because of the angle but the black and white colour really helps understand the overall image.

-James Middleton was shot for the magazine just gone/published - straight face, very composed - shot by Jooney Woodward who shoots on film and focuses around mental health issues.

- Noel Gallagher portrait by Nadav who Andy immediately thought of when they knew Gallagher was being photographed. Nadav didn't understand why he was chosen by when the cover was chosen, it was clear that the style and over all look of the cover was new and unique.

Case Studies Notes-

- Kellingley Colliery by Jon Tonks - Preparation and planning is key. Scouting locations is a very important part of a brief.

- Usain Bolt by Kalpesh Lathigra - There was no actual scheduled time or day that he could shoot and actually take his time due to how busy Usains own schedule was. The shots had to happen naturally and Ka;lpesh needed to be constantly ready just in case there was the perfect moment and sometimes he was able to capture images in under 5 minutes. - portraits, location shots of him running.

- Ruqsana Begum by Sebastian Nevas- A Kickboxer who's shoot was based around portrait and the photographer wanted to be able to capture action shots of the variety of moves that she is able to do. - Variety of images that run through her moves all in one photo.

- Claire Foy by Charlotte Hadden - A photographer who only shoots on film and only shoots during daytime which they thought would be a problem but if they can meet the deadline and know they can process the images in time then there isn't a problem. A North London shoot in a specific location and portraits were very simple and personal which highlights her personality and each detail.

- Race Horse by Sam Faulkner - Anniversary of 1815 and he capture portraits of people who reenact certain major events. Andy chose Sam to be commissioned for this piece of work because of the photographs he captured in his Waterloo work and the overall horse was worth 15million. 'Dark Horse' - was able to shoot on location but only had one opportunity so he needed to be ready to capture at the right time.

- Steve Mcqueen by Nadav Kander - Mcqueen is a film director which meant that a lot of creative direction needed to be thought about in order to bring forward what he does for a living and his personality in images. A moodboard was used as a guide to see whether a block of colour or a gradient would be used within the shoot. A profile image was taken first which was then processed and projected onto the background to be used for part of the shoot.

- Alma Deutscher by Laura Pannocack - Taken on film which was referenced by older photos of violin players to capture a young musician in her element perfectly. She has a very sensitive eye when it comes to capturing photos which brought a uniqueness of the image due to the gaze, the light, position of the photograph etc. - Can clearly see the texture of the musicians clothing and its clear she isn't thinking about the photographer at all.

- Concept dating shoot by Andy Lopo - Based all around our body language on dates with our hands to determine how well a date is going. He capture how people go on their phones if the date isn't going well as well as shows how disconnected the modern world seems to be. A prop stylist, hand model were needed as well as the thought of how the lighting needed to be in order to bring the mood to the photograph. -Bold coloured images tell a story about one person being on a variety of dates which ended in her have a successful date with a woman.