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Oktra Interior Design Photography
Okra London designs and fits up North
During the tumble weed times of frozen lockdown I was commissioned for an exciting interiors photography job that fitted the ‘safe shooting’ requirements perfectly. Essentially a soon to be occupied office building in Newcastle’s NE12. It was a brand new beautiful office design and fit by Okra Design in London for their expanding client (who wants to remain private) with an HQ in London. They had worked to a really tight schedule with design and fit then the timescale shrank on the job drastically as COVID struck. All was completed smoothly on time and the finished results were crisp, professional, light and airy, a positive environment for the new Northern team. Oktra got in touch with me having viewed my website’s Office Interiors Photography (link here) and felt my Newcastle location and photography style was a good fit for their brand and so asked me to capture the office on handover day last month. I was so keen to shoot again, I could have actually kissed them (although strictly I couldn’t in the middle of a pandemic….. and they are 280 miles away, but I am sure you can imagine my joy)!
So the brief was to capture clean descriptive photos of the office’s full height windowed perimeter, the space, light and enormity of the building to create an interior photography portfolio for this design. The photography was briefed to cover the layout planning and details like wall graphics, bespoke brand coloured furniture and organised open planned spaces within the huge expanse of space. There was a fabulous interior living wall in the breakout area that Oktra wanted photos of next to modern furniture and finishes. Images with perspective were important to show the scale and there also was a secure bullet proof area that had it’s own generator in the case of a power cut. It was pretty a impressive piece for Oktra’s portfolio so see what you think below. I have also placed some screen shots of the current Oktra website displaying my images and you can see their work here.
English Heritage’s Corbridge Hoard
Corbridge Hidden Treasures
You may know this already but until I was briefed for this shoot, I had no idea that Corbridge, just outside the pretty cobbled town centre, has an excavated Roman settlement managed by English Heritage. As well as the architectural remains to walk around there is a display of the largest of Hadrian’s Wall’s collections. Its exhibited together with a 2000 year old ‘hoard’ of buried treasure. The excavation here in 1964 found one of the most significant historical findings; a Roman soldier’s belongings including armour, tools, weaponry, wax writing tablets and papyrus, (an ancient writing paper). Essentially it was a Roman time capsule!
These discoveries were found buried in an iron-bound, leather-covered wooden chest which was likely to have been left by it’s owner to collect at a later date but never was. Instead the well preserved items are exhibited at the English Heritage Centre in Corbridge in a colourful, interesting and atmospheric exhibition.
Studio hb, a London based Graphic Designer, created the exhibition’s design concept using detailed spot lighting, careful symmetry, dramatically suspended heavy stone work and a colour scheme inspired by the orange and blue-green beads of the Roman jewellery exhibits. I was briefed by Studio hb’s Helen to capture the design detail of coloured lined timescales, debossed typography (echoing roman etchings in stone) and the story telling layouts of tiny and delicate artefacts.
For anyone interested in finding out more about Hardian’s Wall or the Corbridge Town Roman settlement information can be found on The English Heritage website here
Greggs Jolly Genius Ho Ho Ho!
So it’s the talk of the town! Clever old Greggs has thoroughly entertained everyone who has been gazing into Fenwick’s window this Christmas. The display is tasteful and colourful, celebrating 40 years of the iconic Christmas character The Snowman in 2018.
Greggs is situated directly opposite Fenwick and had the fabulous and playful idea of switching it’s front of shop signage to reverse when the crowds flocked this Christmas. So currently when you look in the window or snap with your phone, the Greggs brand is there shining brightly back at you, the right way around!
It surprises you the first time you see it, makes you chuckle and it feels a bit naughty! Greggs and Fenwick are great pals so it’s all above board and people are loving it, sharing across social media, shouting about it in the press and so it’s around a little longer than planned. Very clever advertising indeed!
So here’s where I come in….. Greggs got in touch with a really interesting and fun branding project to create a portfolio of lifestyle shots in a documentary photography style. The aim was to capture real imagery of their diverse customers in Newcastle city centre.
Whilst I was chasing people with their pasties in the rain up Northumberland St it would have been rude not to have got some of this beauty for their archives! As a documentary photographer I thrive on this type of shoot, and working for such an established well known North East brand makes me feel proud.
Many of you may have seen it either ‘in the flesh’ or even in the “RONIGAAAL” (Chronicle that is…) but those who haven’t you may like to see the effect in my photographs below. But those who plan to visit soon, please look away NOW!
Träkol at By The River Brew Co
Träkol Food Photography
for Event Magazine Mail on Sunday
September 2018
If you are lucky enough to live in or near Newcastle and Gateshead you’ll have seen how exciting places to eat and drink are popping up in lots of new spots. As a bar, restaurant and food & drink photographer there’s suddenly lots of fresh opportunity to take interesting shots at attractive local venues. This year has been particularly lively with the opening of Route on The Side, Brinkburn Brewery in the Ouseburn and By the River Brew Co on Gateshead Quay to name but a fab few. I have been buzzing this summer as I’m a big foodie nerd outside of shooting hours and having all this choice and exceptional quality is just brilliant!
It’s not just the food that is amazeballs (Hawkers market at By the River Brew Co offers international street food, Träkol, Route and Brinkburn Brewery sophisticated small plates) it’s the venue locations that make them really exhilarating. Most are set within historic and very photogenic industrial Newcastle including terraced spaces within the Tudor architecture of the Side, a bar with an entrance to the underground Victoria Tunnel and river side under the 7000 tonnes of sturdy Tyne Bridge steel. So when the Mail on Sunday got in touch to ask me to take photos of Träkol restaurant I was pretty enthusiastic!
The brief from the Mail picture desk was to capture Träkol’s shipping container exterior sat between the beautiful bridges together with the interior design and restaurant’s open fire cooking. I was given a list of dishes Tom Parker Bowles had sampled the previous week to be reviewed in the Sunday supplement Event magazine on Sunday 23rd September. Träkol’s dishes of Surf Clams, Octopus Ceviche, Osado Cooked Lamb, Pig Tails and the Half Pig Head feast were prepared expertly and presented beautifully by the chef for me to photograph. The dishes were such a beautiful mixture of textures, colours and garnish that a week after I booked to go experience it for myself. I was blown away by the flavours, atmosphere, service and the high quality of the food. I really recommend a visit starting with an ale by the Tyne, then after a night cap in Hawkers Market. The location and views are exhilarating! Hurrah for these canny new businesses in the North East, giving us amazing new experiences and something to feel proud, show off and shout loudly about!
