Got into the uni early and made my way to MK202 ready for the writing retreat where we are to work on our dissertations. I was up at the desk on my own before anyone else arrived already working on my laptop when a few people arrived and also a message from the course leader explaining that the tutor was ill and wouldn’t be attending. We were to continue writing and then later in the day we woudl go to a talk from a pro photographer.
I didn’t do much of my dissertation but I documented my interview with a friend who was able to give me some photos and info about the Shirehall for my practice project. This can be found in this post.
At 1:30 we had a student rep meeting in the basement studio area and there were a few questions from some of my course mates but I had nothing to discuss. In the past I might have mentioned that there was a lack of understanding about my part-time status but this year they course leader and tutor have really helped me out after explaining to them how the split over two days might affect my full time employment.
2pm rolled around so a large group of us entered the lecture theatre MK045 for a talk by Kris Askey a pro photographer with 14 years experience in the industry. During the introduction by Sam we were also told that next week another talk would be happening from David English, Still Life Photographer.
Kris Askey based in Worcestershire and studied Product Design at the Uni Of Wolverhampton before deciding, post graduation, that he wanted to do something other than product design. His tutors explained that his visual communication skills were excellent and went into a Graphic Design role, before learning that he wanted to be a photographer.
Askey’s main subject is people. Who? Where? What? and originally started with music photography then migrated to the people who appeared in the photos. More portrait style than gig photography.
After wanting to make a life as a professional photographer he quit his graphic design job and wondered how it would grow, only to receive an email from Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
He was invited to help BCH with a project of fundraising by photographing real patients from the hospital. He did this and the project turned into Stars Of Steelhouse Lane, which went on to appear in the city centre of Birmingham as huge prints. He talked to the staff at the hospital who were asking him to work there and he took creative control of how the project was going to work and had a vision.
It turned out that the hospital wanted him to do the photographs as they had seen an image of his grandfather on his instagram profile. He was to take photos of children who were sick or suffering from un-diagnosed conditions.
As a result of this work he had a 10 year relationship with Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, this decade consisted of behind the scenes images showing children, parent and staff and for one of his images he won a £2000 prize (Big Give Award) to donate to the hospital.
He’s also proud that a recent photo was entered into the British Journal Of Photography’s Portrait Of Britain and has made it through to the short list.
He explained how it was important to him to work with the client but have an opinion about how he wanted to do the job.
CoOp
His next paid job was working for CoOp taking photos of undergraduates entering work at the business, corporate headshots, charity and community work. He learnt a lot in this assignment about portriats and using natural light where possible.
Coca Cola
The huge soft drink manufacturer called after the covid pandemic for him to create portraits of business owners in their establishments trying to entice business back. He got this job as a network connection worked for Coca Cola in London and they needed a photographer in the North of the country so they suggested him. He used his knowledge from the CoOp shoots to build confidence. He said that at this point he also began a policy of saying yes and then working out how to achieve the mission.
The Rep Theatre
He began working with the Birmingham based Rep Theatre and was tasked with attending shows and making images of the shows, the preparation, preambles and after parties. He had some lovely candid shots and was able to stand in the wings so had some amazing shots of people in spotlights in a smoky scene. Some images from the top of the circle to wards the stage were impressive also.
Portraits of the artistic directors and other members of the crew and casts were then called for and he loved taking photos in the painting room as it is a lively and full room with many textures and random objects lying about. It was documentary photography which he said aligned with his street photography passion too.
He showed us an image from a shoot at the Black Country Living Museum that the cast of a show needed a photo and it was cold and wet and a trouble filled shoot so he is under no impression that it always goes right.
Bonnie & Clyde
As a result of his work at the Rep, a previous contact who had moved to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre suggested him for work on some documentary images of behind the scenes of the Bonnie and Clyde show. Again there were some great shots of the cast in action as well as some contextual shots.
GymShark
2 weeks in a white box followed after a friend suggested he work for Gym Shark as their usual photographer was off ill. He enjoyed it for the two weeks and was glad it finished, due to it being a bit boring being in the same box with the same setup day after day.
This job turned into a four month assignment after their previous photographer didn’t return for one reason or another. (Not good reasons). On his very first day he had a studio, model, MUA and stylist to hand then at the very end of the day he pressed export and it overwrote the folder that the images wre in, meaning he lost everything from that day. They stuck with him and he went on to write their standard work for future photographers and he even hired his successor as he left to do other things.
The next slide was titled “Remember why you do it.” meaning that he wanted to return to having fun I think, he went on a workshop in London with Matt Stuart, as I did at the tail end of 2024.
Street Photography
Kris showed us some of his street photos and they were familiar to me as I do some street, the methods and results seemed impressive and reminded me of why I enjoy it too.
He showed us some amazing street portraits and explained that almost everyone will say yes to a photo if you are honest and genuine when asking.
Kris shoots throughout the year and then hopefully about 5 images per year the he likes, he sees this as a win.
Hidden Daughter
A current project underway now features images of his daughter as she grows up, although he’s careful not to show the face in its entirety. This was done due to the concerns about privacy and AI being able to reconstruct the images of his daughter. Some of the photos are amazing and instead of just the usual shareneting we see som ewonderfully composed images.
Wet Plate Collodion
To finish off the talk, Kris starts to experiment with wet plate collodion and tin types as well as ambrotypes. He used it for fun experiments and then found that people loved their images captured in this way. He takes photos of bands and people that fit the overall aesthetic of the medium
Conclusion
His overarching message from the talk was to do what you love to do, sometimes you’ll have a bad day, or an unpleasant job that you need to do to pay the bills but that even without a solid plan, good work ethic and passion will steer you into the path of opportunities.
His projects grew organically from a seed of an idea and working with other creatives allowed him to network and take advantage of lessons learned in one area by applying them elsewhere.
His talk was inspiring and I’m looking forward to checking out more of his street photography too.
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