Elvis at 21… New York to Memphis

I wrote an entry for this blog a few months ago to commemorate the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death ‘Elvis from the Beginning’. The photographer; Albert Wertheimer, whose pictures I wrote about, is now showing a selection of his photographs of Elvis from the same period at an exhibition at Proud Chelsea in London.

One of the many auspicious things about these photographs is that they have never been shown in this way in the UK before.  Another is that the new Proud gallery chose to open with this exhibition, which to me, re-affirms Presley’s legend.

These candid shots of Elvis were taken during a time before the Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, put restrictions on the photography of his charge.  Later, only approved and carefully managed publicity shots of Presley were made available for publication – leading the way for the management of today’s celebrities who constantly control the image of their stars. 

These photos show that Elvis did not begin his career as the product of a svengali, revealing that he had his own unique style, was charismatic beyond belief, and that his ‘act’ was not something that was cultivated, but sheer, raw talent.

In later years, Elvis was portrayed as super-human and untouchable.  He was trapped in his fame rendering him unable to walk down the street – unless he was in disguise.  So these shots of him as a ‘normal’ person eating in a diner, travelling on a train with the rest of the public, standing on the street outside his hotel, and intimate shots of him at home with his family are fantastic.  The fact that he was so photogenic, make these shots even more enjoyable to look at.

 The exhibition runs from 18^th November until 31^st January.

Post written by Nicola Charalambous (Picture Editor of PA Photocall)

Traditional radio sticks it to new technologies…

It’s official – Radio is still one of the best ways to reach your potential audience. With the radio industry’s quarterly figures showing listening is up year on year, the medium has shown itself robust in the recession.

Rajar report

It’s had a tough old time though – it seems like every 5 seconds someone is warning of the death of the wireless – but the truth is that radio has managed to turn the internet, podcasting and digital broadcasting to its advantage…

To read the rest of this post click here TNR Communications Blog

The BNP on Question Time – protests, political panto and the power of the media

Nick Griffin’s appearance on BBC’s Question Time has been the hottest headline in the British media this week, culminating in a mass protest outside Television Centre before the show.

The controversy has raised serious questions…

To read the rest of the article click here TNR Communications Blog

Meerkats for Christmas… ‘Simples’!

This week saw PA Photocall work with Frank PR on an exclusive launch of a limited edition ‘Aleksandr talking toy’ due to arrive exclusively at Harrods in time for Christmas.

 

An Aleksandr Orlov meerkat 'talking toy' in the meerkat enclosure at London Zoo ahead of them going on sale exclusively in Harrods in early December. David Parry/PA Photocall

 

To read the rest of this post click here TNR Communications Blog

Irving Penn – Exposing the life behind the achievement

Irving Penn; the father of modern day fashion photography, known for his celebrity portraits, fashion photographs, still life work and images of remote places died last Wednesday at his home in Manhattan aged 92.

Penn’s images inspired photographers for generations from all over the world to pick up the camera and try to capture their subjects in the same simple, clear and yet incredibly detailed way…

To read the rest of this blog go to TNR Communications Blog

An Insight into 3 years at PA Photocall

On this day 3 years ago PA Hostpics was re-launched as PA Photocall and to celebrate this occasion I wanted to take at look at some of vast and varied projects we have been involved with…

I thought I might begin with perhaps PA Photocall’s most iconic image which was commissioned by The National Lottery for their Love UK campaign back in June 2007. English National Ballet’s Swan Lake ballerinas enjoyed a practice session on the Millennium Bridge as part of the new Love UK campaign to celebrate the £20 billion raised by Lottery players for good causes. English National Ballet and the Millennium Bridge had both benefitted from Lottery Funding.

National Lottery Love UK campaign. Goeff Caddick/PA Photocall June 2007

Our seasoned PA Photocall photographer Geoff Caddick captured this beautiful image…

‘As a photographer I am obsessed with symmetry, this image just worked perfectly. You always envisage how you want the photograph to turn out but sometimes it doesn’t always happen that way, this image was everything I hoped it would be.’ Geoff Caddick

One image which highlights the importance of planning your photocall was this shot commissioned by BAA and British Airways to announce the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.

BAA and British Airways announce Terminal 5 at Heathrow opening. Geoff Caddick/PA Photocall March 2007

The effectiveness of the image is that it gives the impression of a news picture from what is actually a PR set up. The photo was featured in several national newspapers including The Times, The Independent and The Evening Standard.

An image which is my personal favourite and a testament to not having to use branding in your picture to get your message across is that of ‘Ripley’s’ photocall with the worlds smallest road worthy car which we ran riot with in London’s Piccadilly Circus.

'Ripley's Believe it or Not' unveil their newest exhibit the Peel 50. Carl Court/PA Photocall

 The Peel 50 was to be exhibited in ‘Ripley’s Believe it Not’ Museum in London and they wanted to capture a photograph to mark the occasion. PA Photocall photographer Carl Court followed the little car around as it unveiled to the public and caused quite a stir. The beauty of this image is the reactions of the people to the Peel 50 against the London back drop. The image not only got into the national papers and online but was also featured in the BBC programme ‘Have I Got News for you’.

As far as spectacular PR stunts go this year’s highlight was that of Eden TV’s launch back in January. A 16 foot high sculpture of an iceberg featuring a stranded female polar bear and her baby cub floated on the River Thames. The stunt was to mark the launch of Eden, a new digital TV channel devoted to natural history.

 

Eden TV Channel Launch. Geoff Caddick/PA Photocall Jan 2009

After 3 years much has changed and will continue to do so but the ability to be creative, fun and varied will always stay true in the world of PR photography. No one day is the same and each job gives us a new challenge, to that end long may it continue.

Post by Penny Joyner (Marketing Executive at PA Photocall)

Happy 3rd Birthday PA Photocall

Although the history of the PA Photocall service goes back further under the guise of PA Hostpics and indeed PA Photos, this month sees the 3rd anniversary of the PA Photocall name.

So along with blowing out birthday candles and wearing a big ‘I am 3′ badge we thought it was as good a reason as any to have a look back over the last three years & what we’ve been doing.

Three years might not seem a long time, but since our relaunch as PA Photocall in Oct 2006, there’s been some big changes in press & PR.

We’ve seen the londonpaper come, and go, a complete redevelopment of the the concept and content of newspaper websites, an industry shaking recession and the explosion of social media – Facebook in it’s modern form is only about a week older than us, while twitter was still known as ‘twtrr’ and had about as many users as vowels..

But however the industry has changed, photos remain important. Video & moving image has become more accessible and that’s something we’ll be doing more of next year. But great photos retain the ability to cut through complex information and campaigns, and convey stories in a way people intuitively respond to.

Our first PA Photocall commission was to photograph a giant cheese board. However random that might seem, I look at that shot 3 years later & it still stands up; bright, simple, quirky, fun. Any new PR shot that does the same will always have a good chance of succeeding.

British cheese producer Peter Mitchell sits on top of a half tonne Mature Farmhouse Cheddar, which forms part of the World`s Largest Cheese Board record attempt in accordance with the Guiness Book of Records, Covent Garden Piazza, central London. Geoff Caddick/PA Photocall

Is it harder to get PR pictures into the newspapers now than it was 3 years ago? Yes and no. There’s more pictures around now than ever before & technology makes them easier and quicker to take & distribute. As a result the papers have become more demanding, a celebrity just standing there in a branded t-shirt isn’t going to do it anymore. But good launches, stunts, events and news, where the picture has been an integral part of the activity rather than just tacked on at the end are still in demand. In an age where papers are employing less & less staff photographers, PR photos are important again.

Looking through the files I also see later that first PA Photocall week in October 2006 we also photographed the Sugababes. Three years on the Sugababes have just announced another line up change, yet in a strange way remain exactly the same. There’s something similar with good PR photography. To a certain extent the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Sugababes smile backstage at the Girlguiding UK Big Gig, an exclusive concert for Girlguiding UK members at Wembley Arena, London. Rebecca Reid/PA Photocall

However they’re taken or however they’re distributed, or however they’re seen, at the end of the day the quality of the pictures & the ideas behind them are still the most important thing. Here’s to the next 3 years!

 

Post by Tim Kerr (Director & Picture Editor of PA Photocall)

Eugene Richards: The lives behind the sensation

I have been reading ‘the fat baby’ a collection of stories by acclaimed photographer Eugene Richards who has worked for Life, Time, Newsweek, and Esquire. He is a photojournalist in the truest sense of the word in that he writes how he feels and photographs what he sees putting them together into a story that makes you feel as if you were there. With Richards’s subject matter and style this is very rarely a comfortable feeling, his subjects ranging from mental institutions in Mexico, to conflict hospitals in Bosnia to drugs and gangs on the streets of America.

Richards get very close to his subject matter and his stories are intimate and intensely personal, this is what makes his photography so special. He gets so close to the situations that he is photographing that you have feeling that his subjects no longer know he is there. Strangely this intimacy with his subject allows his photographs to remain completely detached, snapshots of lives lived neither judged nor filtered by his lens. 

Eugene Richards is a photojournalist but this book does not contain any news photography, the assignments that he has compiled in this book cover some of the biggest events in world news but he never photographs the events themselves. However it is journalism, he is showing the truth of the lives that lie behind the sensation without cliché something that is very rare and very refreshing if hard to look at. 

Richards’s style has really inspired me to try and avoid the temptation to set up too much of the photography I do, to stand back from my subject and wait for a natural reaction. The candid rather than the contrived pictures are so often the best shots you get from an assignment. 

http://www.eugenerichards.com/

Post by David Parry (PA Photocall photographer)

A Private Glimpse at Bob Dylan

I stumbled across a lovely little exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery last week of Barry Feinstein shots from Bob Dylan’s 1966 European Tour. 

Feinstein had taken the classic cover portrait for Dylan’s 1964 ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ so he was invited to be Dylan’s official photographer for his first electric European tour.

 He had complete access to Dylan & his band photographing dozens of shows, but it’s his ‘behind the scenes’ shots that are by far the most interesting. Here we see a private glimpse of Dylan finding his way through the rock star tour routine of hotel rooms, sound checks and travel, emerging as more than the niche folk artist a lot of his original fans wanted him to remain.

Feinstein photographs Dylan surrounded by raggedy kids in Liverpool, striding like a Pied Piper along Edinburgh’s Princess Street, buying boots in Carnaby Street, taking a train from Dublin to Belfast and standing on the quayside wearing shades in the rain waiting for the for the River Severn Ferry.

 An American music symbol set apart in a post-war Britain that looks like another country, bereft and grey.

Dylan has always been different things to different people; folk and rock; star and recluse. In these shots somehow Feinstein captures the enigma, frames it for posterity, for us to take our own meaning. We stare at the icon we know photographed in places we know, but in reality we don’t know either, the moments have passed. But great photographs like this embrace their time and place and make something more from it. Times maybe a-changing but the photos don’t.

http://www.barryfeinsteinphotography.com/index.htm

All photos copyright Barry Feinstein

Post by Tim Kerr (Director & Picture Editor of PA Photocall)

Rankin: The Creative Portrait Photographer

Rankin is a top name in the subversive stream of British fashion photography. Rankin Live is a unique exhibition on display at the Old Truman Brewery in London and gives the public the opportunity to be featured within the work themselves. The exhibition has two separate areas, Rankin Retrospective and Shoot Men, Rankin.

The exhibition looks back at Rankin’s prolific career, from his more commercial work to his more intimate shots. And the co-founders of Dazed & Confused magazine show us a varied selection of photos of Kate Moss.

The exhibition taking place until 18^th September made me consider the variety and creativity that Rankin brings to every portrait shot he produces. He rarely, if ever regurgitates the same dull front on image, which lead me to think there is no excuse these days for your business portraiture to do the same. From the outset you may think the only back drop to use is an office with your CEO sat at their desk, but when taking corporate images you want to capture the personality of your business and the people within it, the same way Rankin captures the personality of his subjects.

Jodie Kidd reveals the new World Polo series trophy. John D McHugh/PA Photocall

Not everyone is a fan of having their picture taken, which can result in a stiff almost uncomfortable image being produced. You need to be able to rely on a professional photographer to make your subject feel relaxed and at home in their surroundings. Using an outdoor location can break up the generic shots or even a behind the scenes location will be more interesting to your audience.

Mayor Boris Johnson on the London Eye for the first day of British Tourism Week. Carl Court/PA Photocall

It is good to remember that people buy people so achieving great professional corporate imagery for your business can be one of the key elements to increase sales and notability in a socially media driven world. A nice, clean relaxed profile picture can be the difference between just your friends and family following you on Twitter or a whole new world of potential business.

 

Post by Penny Joyner (PA Photocall)