Rodney Smith

      I have been a great admirer of Rodney Smith's photography for a while now.  I love surreal and quirky art and Smith's photography has its own unusual twist that makes it his own.  His concepts are simple yet well thought out and there is an obvious cleverness behind his images.  His simple methods generate beautiful and surreal photographs and he captures every moment perfectly.  His style has a resemblance of Magritte's paintings, especially the top hat and tailor suit figure where the subjects face is hidden.

Yves Lavallette

     Yves Lavallette is a French fashion photographer who has worked for some of the best fashion magazines in the world.  These include Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Marie-Claire and Soon.  I think he creates so much beauty within his images and they are extremely striking.  His photographs are edgy without taking the focus away from the fashion.  They are art directed to perfection.

Tom Ford

     When I first came across Tom Ford's work I used to find it quite offensive.  The nudity did'nt bother me, as I am a huge fan of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin, who I think Ford has taken a lot of inspiration from.  I didn't like how he portrayed the female model, but really he is using the power of the female form to sell.  There is a lot of sexual reference in his images, but at the end of the day 'sex sells.'  I have found myslef liking his photography more and more, it's sexy but still has that sophisticated style.  The two things I think Tom Ford portrays as a male fashion icon.

Giacomo Brunelli

      I came across Brunelli's work when I was looking for exhibitions to visit in London.  His animal photography is stunning and I love the earthy reality it portrays.  The settings vary from the man made to the natural landscape.  I like how the images don't feel staged, he captures life as it is happening.  The first image above of his work really caught my attention.  I like how he focuses on a certain area with the simple variation of light.  Each image is individual and striking in it's own way.

Remember Me

    I've just been to watch 'Remember Me' and it has to be one of the most moving films I have seen for a while.  It is a heartfelt drama, which takes hold of your emotions as you get wrapped up within the story.  There's everything from love, hate, violence, and death.  It's an emotional rollercoaster, especially with the main character played by Robert Pattinson.  He is a very trouble character throughout the film and you begin to really feel his pain as the story progresses.  The ending is very overwhelming and something I did not predict, so it leaves you stunned and it brings back real memories that each viewer will be able to relate to.  If you watch the film you will understand what I mean, but I won't spoil it for anyone.

'Panic' at Noise Lab

    The 'Panic' exhibition looked really professional and everyone's work was great.  There was a good variety of work and everyone had interpreted the brief in their own style.  It's amazing to have work put up in a space like this and I am proud to be part of D&AD.  I would like to thank Helen Butterworth and Alessandra Mostyn for curating the show.  They put a lot of effort into this exhibition, which is very evident in the end result.

Panic

     My degree course has been lucky enough to have an exhibition at 'Noise Lab' in Manchester city centre.  The brief for the exhibition was to interpret 'Panic.'  I did a joint project with Kirsty Gilliburn.  Our work was based around the idea that people panic at the thought of being alone, such as eating alone, shopping alone, walking alone, travelling alone, being in the house on your own, etc...We narrowed it down to three sequences and used photography as our media.  There are three sets of four photographs, but we have styled them so they link together.  The first set shows the person at the graveyard, which signifies the panic people face when they lose a partner or someone close to them.  The second sequence shows the person walking alone in an isolated area, so the panic of no one being around especially when it gets dark.  The third sequence shows the person at home alone , the panic that someone could be in your house or even watching you.