Django Bates – 2019.
This is a mixture of 3D graphics and straight-ish photography.
The dancing figures on the right were created in 3D and are based on a painting by the British surrealist, John Melville

Fretwork

Joby Burgess – publicity photography

Joby Burgess – publicity photography

Nikki Yeoh – publicity photogaphy

Nikki Yeoh – album cover

Leonard Elschenbroich

Manu Delago:

Publicity and cover for Kings Place magazine.

The shield-like object behind Manu is a hang; a weird and wonderful musical instrument developed in 2000 by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer. Visually, it looks like a flying saucer, but, musically, it has the deep, meditative resonance of a gong and the percussive qualiities of the steel pan. Manu is a virtuoso of the instrument, and when not pursuing his own projects, he plays alongside Björk. For this session we were intending to have him jumping in the air looking as though he was throwing the hang like a frisbee along with some other toy and miniature instruments that he uses. Unfortunately he had damaged his knee so we had to fake it by photographing him from above in a ‘jumping’ position. For this particular image used inside the magazine, I concentrated on the more spiritual aspect of the music, hence the allusion to the halo. A lifetime of admiration for the Dutch still life painters sits in my head and are reflected here in the subtle play of light on the hang. It reminds me of all those pewter goblets and plates.

Cleveland Watkiss:

Publicity photography

Cleveland Watkiss:

Publicity photography

I am certain that the jazz vocalist, Cleveland Watkiss, discovered the secret of eternal youth sometime back.He really looks no different now to when I first photographed him twenty-odd years ago. You can’t go wrong with him in front of your lens. He has a charisma that just shines through – that, and a sharp sense of style.

Cleveland Watkiss: publicity photography

Ayanna Witter-Johnson for Kings Place

Django Bates:

Publicity photography for Beloved Bird.

The key here is all in the title. Django is always happy to indulge my more outlandish ideas – and they are generally appropriate to his idiosyncratic approach to life and to music. Also, he has a penchant for hats – so I created this sculptural Tatlin’s tower of a hat from piano keys specifically for this photograph. The bird’s wings were courtesy of a taxidermist friend of Django and fixed via the wonders of photoshop.

Django Bates:

Publicity photography for Beloved Bird.

Another take on the bird motif.

Matthew Barley:
Publicity photograph shot in Aldeburgh for his Around Britten tour

Lau: publicity for Kings Place

Carolyn Sampson:

Navarra Quartet for Kings Place

Family Atlantica: Publicity photography

Fretwork – publicity and CD promotion

Django Bates

Ensemble Bash

Chucho Valdez for Kings Place

Matthew Barley – publicity photography

Matthew Barley & Julian Joseph – publicity photography

Ensemble Bash – publicity

Julian Bliss:
Publicity photography.

Ayanna Witter-Johnson for Kings Place

Leonard Elschenbroich