film photography Archives - Page 9 of 14 - Nigel Goldsmith photography & film

Social Media advertising campaign for Sylvanian Families

As a photographer, I often have to climb a tree or hang out of a window to get an elevated viewpoint of my subject or get down on my hands and knees to capture a dramatic low level perspective. This however was nothing compared to the contortions I had to do while shooting a recent social media campaign for Sylvanian Families. The brief was developed by Highlight PR in Bath and the aim was to get pictures from a child’s (and Sylvanians) viewpoint and place the little characters in the ‘real world’.

Sylvanian Families enjoying the sights in Bath

The shots were taken in a variety of locations around the city of Bath with the tiny figures going about their everyday activities under the noses of the city’s human inhabitants. The shot of the car (above) driving around the city’s famous Royal Crescent required me to lie flat-out across the middle of the road. While I was trying to compose the picture and avoid being reflected in the car’s bodywork my assistant had to guide traffic and pedestrians around me. None of these images have been heavily manipulated, the lighting, colour and perspective were all captured ‘in camera’.

Sylvanian Families enjoying an ice cream on the beach

The characters are only a couple of inches high so casual observers couldn’t always understand why I was lying flat on the pavement or what my lights were pointing at.

The images have been widely used to promote Sylvanians both on Twitter and Facebook and other social media though they may also be used in traditional print media in the future.

It was great to work alongside Alison Vellacott from Highlight PR and I think we managed to get some entertaining images though I think I will need to limber up with a spot of yoga before I do it again.

Sylvanian Families visiting the dentist

Ghost caught on pinhole camera

I am currently going through the current crop of extended pinhole camera pictures and discovered that a camera had recorded a ‘ghost’ of a structure not present when the camera was put up or taken down. On the left side of the building there is a faint image of scaffolding which must have been in place for around half of the exposure (3 months). You can see more pinhole images in the gallery section of the website

Ghost of scaffolding captured in 6 month pinhole camera exposure

Trade Union, not for profit and NGO photography

I have provided photography and photomontage services for trade unions and NGOs for over twenty years. The work is varied and interesting and differs widely from one organisation to another.

Photo-montaged images are often used to represent complex topics which cannot be illustrated with a traditional photograph. The types of subjects I have illustrated include, teenage pregnancies, John Major’s ‘Back to Basics’ policy, employment rights and environmental issues. This images often draw heavily on visual symbols and metaphors and can make very powerful images for campaigns, front covers or home pages. Some of my photo-montages have won the prestigious TUC media awards.

You can see more examples of my photo-montages here

Royal Mail privatisation. Commissioned by CWU

Most of these organisations have annual AGMs or conferences and need images of the event. Conference photography typically involves unobtrusively photographing speakers and delegates, taking shots of fringe meetings, team shots and stalls, recording any planned publicity events and forwarding images to picture desks from the venue.

Reaction from the floor- trade union conference

RMT – stewards

Guest Speaker – Dave Smith

RMT Conference delegate

My day rate for trade union and NGO work is based on the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) agreed day rate of £300/day before expenses.

Photomontages can require props and numerous location shots so please contact me for a quote.

Trade unions I have worked for; PCS, RMT, CWU, GMB, NUT, TGWU, UNISON, GPMU,

NGOs I have worked for; Greenpeace, War on Want, Central Americas Human Rights Commission, Prisoners Abroad,

Ship breakers in Bangladesh

This image was part of a series of documentary images shot in 1998 of ship breakers on a beach just outside of the city of Chittagong in Bangladesh. The beach is the last port of call for numerous huge ships which are stripped down to their raw materials often with just pure brute force. While the ship breakers were mainly concerned with recovering steel and other metals from the ships they would also have to remove asbestos and other harmful materials from the ship.

While I was using digital cameras at the time I decided to shoot the whole project with the Hasselblad. The images were commissioned by a London based development organisation.

Prints from this series can be purchased from me directly. For more information, visit my print sales page

Ship breakers, Chittagong, Bangladesh

The Marshfield Mummers

The ‘Town’ Crier’ leads the Marsfield Mummers along the High Street

I don’t normally work on Boxing Day however this year I was invited to photograph the Marshfield Mummers as they prepared for their annual performance.

Mummer’s costume case

The history of the Marshfield Mummers goes back more than two hundred years. The Mummers themselves are played by men local to the area, their identity is concealed by a costume made from torn strips of newspaper and cloth.

English Turpentine, used in the play for healing

Getting into costume

Typically, Marshfield is a sleepy village on the southern edge of the Cotswolds however on Boxing Day the pavements are packed with visitors who have come to see the annual performance.

The short 3 minute play is repeated a number of times along the High Street, between performances the Mummers walk in procession led by the ‘Town Crier’.

About to perform

The audience is invited to make a charitable donation to the Mummers, the money collected supports local projects. Many believe that a donation to the Mummers brings good luck for the following year. To read more about the Marshfield Mummers follow this link.

‘Saucy Jack’ a character from the Marshfield Mummers Christmas play

‘Beelzebub’ Marshfield Mummers

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