Editorial Photography Assignments
The nicest aspects of being commissioned for editorial photography assignments is the diversity of the work and the challenge each assignment brings – I am showing a couple of recent assignments for Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, who also have an English online version Helsinki Times.
Hinkley Point
The government had announced that up to £2 billion in support was planned for the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant, the guarantee also paved the way for Chinese investment in the UK’s nuclear industry. We drove down to Somerset and spoke with local villages in Cannington near Hinkley point about their views on the proposed expansion. The main story was given to one of the locals view points, he was a keen gardener and I photographed him in his garden and used the greenhouse to frame him against the imposing sky.
Mental Health
The NSPCC warned of a “time bomb” of serious mental health conditions after it emerged that more than a fifth of children referred to NHS services for treatment for mental health issues were rejected. To illustrate this report Helsingin Sanomat’s London correspondent Annamari Sipilä interviewed a youth who represented the British Youth Council for the South East.
This assignment was a challenge as the only area available in the office building was a room with 4 white walls. I found an angle that I felt worked well and photographed him from an opposite window across the courtyard. I was able to frame him within a window pane and he was lit by an off camera flash that was triggered by a radio remote, the evening darkness, office lights and window reflections gave the image a foreboding feel. I was really pleased that the picture desk chose this image rather that a standard portrait.
