Well, I could throw in a hatful of excuses, but you’d all see through it, and the truth is that there are no excuses….Just the old chestnut of tomorrow never comes, but it does, straight after every day.

September was a whirlwind of shoots and planning for more shoots.  The final Little Miss Muffet images had to be put on hold based purely on priorities, as we went through a number of studio shoots, lifestyle shoots and a further trip up to Fleetwood to complete the photography of the soon to be world famous crooner Howard Wing.

A lot of planning and shoots were focussed on building towards ‘The Art of Seduction’, which is the robertdann PHOTOGRAPHY take on boudoir photography, due for launch early 2009, and we WILL post more details as the approach and business gets finalised.

The last few weeks has seen me meet with future wedding clients, and discuss shooting them in a boxing ring together (we keep saying we don’t do ‘ordinary’ weddings!). I was shocked that the garage I recalled my Uncle Jeff working in when I was a child, is now an elaborate shed…Sorry, Jeff, workshop.  We’ve done a wonderful fine art nude seminar with Trevor and Faye Yerbury.  We got Howard jumping off a derelict bandstand, and looking all moody at 2am at a bar, and we tried to book part of a marina for a wedding shoot; and the next weeks show no sign of normality…Whatever defines normality.

Finally,  I had a couple of weeks of artistic madness playing the tortured artist, before all that know me finally beat some sense into my dense skull….Can’t wait to do it again next year…Yes, its a yearly thing, probably.

So, November will see the studio being partially redesigned, whether I like it or not.  We will be on a commercial shoot in the Netherlands, and hopefully in Ecuador on a further commercial shoot, and getting some great travel images to boot.  There will be more lingerie ( the studio seems to be permanently strewn with bras and knickers), more client meetings, commercial recces, some industrial photography, and a lot of designing - albums, websites, promotional materials and advertising - and some carpentry for good measure.

The next week will see the Little Miss Muffet images uploaded, two further entries in the Blog on shoots, and some further news on ‘The Art of Seduction’….Well, thats the plan, but you know it may be December!

I'm sure this was a garage when I was 10!

…Talking about Art, Photography and the Nursery Rhyme Shoots is scheduled to be aired on Friday 29th at 1.00pm BST, and again at 8.00am on Saturday 30th on Andrew Brewerton’s Arts Show on Swindon 105.5FM

http://www.swindon1055.com/listen/

The Background

After much planning the first ‘Nursery Rhyme’ is about to come to life on Sunday.  The concept is to capture the nursery rhyme in three images, as a triptych, the middle image summing up the overall narrative.  The twist is (hopefully!) in the way in which the nursery rhyme is interpreted.

Example, ‘Ring a Ring a Roses’, was originally a rhyme about the bubonic plague and all the bodies piling up in the street….Very cheery.  Most nursery rhymes are grounded in historical fact, or at least legend, and what we are going to do is take that history, play with the meaning of the rhyme, add a sometimes contemporary feel, and in some instances be downright wicked and satirical about it.  The fact that Humpty Dumpty was probably never an actual person but a large war cannon has no bearing on how I have visualised the images…To me Humpty Dumpty is a very fat obnoxious skinhead, sat on a wall, high as a kite on acid and coke, and drunk on Jack Daniels and Carlsberg Special Brew…THAT is why he’s gonna fall off the wall!

There are six nursery rhymes in different stages of pre production currently, and given all the planning and thought from lots of people I only hope my own photographic talent is going to be up to it! ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ is just starting to be planned, ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and ‘Jack and Jill’ have been storyboarded and are more prepped, and ‘Mary Mary Quite Contrary’ and ‘Georgie Porgie’ are just on the drawing board.

The first ‘Nursery Rhyme Shoot’

Little Miss Muffett is first up. Originally a real live little girl from the late 1500s, whose Father was purportedly a celebrated entomologist, we are going to shoot this one pretty much straight, although the spider ( a Chilean Rose Tarantula) is going to made a little bit bigger!  Playing the role of Miss Muffett - and to make this work the role will need to be played, hammed up if you like - is a young lady called Ana, who I’m lucky enough to know as she is the eldest daughter of some very dear friends, and I first photographed her (and got a lot of ‘lip’ and abuse from her for my trouble) when she was 7.  Ana is not going to wind up looking like a ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ cute golden ringlets little girl…A)..That’s not Ana, and B) That is not going to be this Miss Muffett…I think we’ll go for something a little more gothic and grungy than that.

The assistance of Colin’s team at First Class Hair Design in Devizes, is always welcomed;  the stylists working with us on this shoot being Helen and Emily.  And whilst I’m thanking those that have planned with me, as always I should thank Chloé for her advice and make up expertise….Enough obsequiousness for now, we’ll thank more people as the shoot gets underway….Please hold off on the rain!!