Jimmy Niggles Esq & his fine beard, that I've named Barry..

Nordic Viking Mr Niggles was introduced to me through a mutual mate Mr May.. On seeing Jimmy's fine beard on Facebook I got in touch with May and asked for his details... What followed was a 6 month pursuit to shoot him and the beard 'Barry'.. I had a meeting at the agency Bango, where a certain Nordic Viking works and finally we pinned down a day to shoot the portrait..

Niggles has an eccentric way about him and his appearance, he is a good sort and a good laugh..
'Barry' the beard is so dense it has it's own postal code, it's a beauty.. On uploading the first portrait on Facebook a female friend of mine made this comment Very. Good. Looking. Bearded. Man..
I replied he was not good looking or have a beard when he arrived for his portrait..

Melbourne lad Jimmy has his own site http://thisisbeard.com/ which Jimmy started after his mate Wes Bonny found out he had a melanoma on his neck. A few months later he tragically passed away. Jimmy, alongside a few of his mates started Beard Season in an effort spread the word about how important it is to check your skin and know what to look for..

I'm keen to get on board with Jimmy for this worth while cause and shoot some great beards...

Please check out Niggles site..

As always click on image to enlarge...

John Waters.. Friend of Friends...

 

 

 

Last Monday my friend Carl Dennis and I got up for the 4.30am screening of the England v Italy Quarter final for the Euro's, which we were watching at a café on Norton Street in Leichhardt, Little Italy.. He said he had to pick his friend John up on route, so at 4.25am Actor John Waters walks out his front door, with a cup of coffee in hand and an England Jester's hat on his head..

Chelsea fan John is obviously a very well known actor on these shores, we got to the café and sat down next to each other, to view the game unfold to agonising penalty shoot out, that England managed to choke once more...

John stars in my wife Sarah's favourite TV program 'Offspring'..

On approaching Sarah Dennis, Carl's wife to ask if I could photograph John, she said there would be no problem and she kindly arranged it for me.. So when I mentioned to my Sarah's mum casually, that a certain Mr Waters would be popping round for a portrait, she went rather weak at the knees..

John came round on Thursday after I'd shot Reg Mombassa, they knew each other, had a quick chat then we got started.. John has worn very well for his years and he has an intensity in his piercing green eyes, that reminds me of Oliver Reed, in his day... We chatted about football, England, where he is originally from, living in London and going to watch his beloved Chelsea as a boy.. Then talk about his work, music career, coffee, families and more football.

We shoot for only 10-15 minutes, John's rugged good looks his trade mark, I think on discussion he was liked by both my wife and her mum, they don't generally have the same tastes...

Afterwards we drop into Flood Street Carousel, as we share a love for good coffee, Cal whipped us up a couple a coffee's and we chatted some more, before my friend Steve arrived. Several people approached John to mention the TV show, then we headed off..

Hopefully John approves of the shots and I hope next time my beloved Liverpool are playing Chelsea, Carl, John and myself get to catch up once more..?


As always, click on the image to enlarge...

Pigment.. Reg Mombassa...

  

  

Artist Neil 'Frazer' Frazer, introduced me to Reg a few months back.. Frazer said I would love the character in his face and he was right, Reg said " Well I'm sick of looking at it".

Artist/Musician Reg is a very well known man, his music career spanning 40 odd years, go hand in hand with his iconic art works for Mambo etc..

On meeting Reg at his studio 3 weeks back, Reg was easy to talk to and had the presence of man half his age. Reg made me a coffee and we talked shop, his musical past, flying in light aircraft and how little exercise he does, compared to Frazer, quote "The only exercise I do, is getting in and out of the car"...

Reg has such a strong style with his works of art and on entering his studio space and viewing a few he was working on, it felt I was meeting someone for the first time, that I already knew..

Reg is a very laid back, softly spoken gent, he has a fair few stories up his sleeve and I'm sure I could have heard a few more if I'd hung around.. When I went through Reg's studio to collect pieces to shoot, I spied this fine Fez, a real Fez, not a comedy Fez.. I picked it up and said I had to shoot him in it for his portrait, "Sure" said Reg and here they are...

When he arrived for his portrait Reg wore his usual black jacket and black beanie. He is very comfortable in his own skin I feel, maybe due to his successful career, but he is unstated in his style and manner, but really he is just a nice chap..

When he smiles his face changes quite dramatically, I was stumped for a gag to achieve this smile.. "Just tell me a joke about a monkey, or something".. I didn't have any monkey jokes, but the word monkey, seemed to do the trick..

Hopefully I will get the opportunity to photograph Reg again, down the line..? But I think I'd need to find another great hat for that session..



As always, click on the image to enlarge...

Father & Daughter..

 

After photographing John and Eddie last week, I thought I'd upload another set on father/child portraits.

On viewing this my neighbour Deb will probably dislike the shots of her husband Mal and say he looks like a convict (No Comment), but hopefully like the one's of her daughter Isabelle..?  I photographed the dad and daughter duo a few months back for a pitch..

The O'Briens live a few doors up from us and have become good friends, over the past 7 years.

When we first met Isabelle she was a young teenager, she was Mal's double in her looks and colouring, now she is away at Uni, but still her father's daughter..

Just slightly prettier.


As always click on the image to enlarge..

Cockney Sparrow.. Mr Gill...

 

 

Fellow Pom, Mike Gill and I met a few weeks back, this shy and retiring gentle character and I hit it off straight away..  His was sporting this fine moustache, which I asked immediately if I could photograph sometime this week..?

Mr Gill is a real larger than life person, who sounds like he has a stall down the markets, which I'm sure he won't mind me saying, a real Londoner..

There were too many memorable quotes from last night to mention, my favourite being that he was getting a silver tooth, because he was unable to eat apples since he lost his front tooth...

Not in a bar brawl I hasten to add.

As always click on the image to enlarge...

Pink.. Brendan Maclean's new series...

So I receive a Tweet from Brendan, he's taken a full length shot of himself in his mirror, wearing his new pink one piece.. I let him know my 4 month old daughter has a similar suit and suggested a new set of images...

Things are finally starting to happen for Mr Maclean, his 0.2 seconds of fame, in the new 'The Great Gatsby' trailer speaks volumes, for this 24 year old... Last week he was playing a gig at Baz Luhrmann's house, for his wife and it's only a matter of time before he gets his record deal...

I love random images, that really don't mean anything more than they are random and with Brendan, I achieve this on a regular basis... As I have written before, Brendan is eccentric and happy to experiment in front of the camera, the more odd, the better and that is the reason why I enjoy taking his picture..

I would love nothing more, than for celebrities to take a leaf out of his book, when being in front of the camera and let their hair down more often...


As always click on the image, to enlarge...

John's lad Eddie..

 

 

  

  

 

John 'Sticky' Llyod was my right hand man in defence, for Leichhardt Tigers, even though he supports the blue half of Liverpool.. Sticky and I have many things in common, we both played for Leichhardt, both English, both support teams from Liverpool and both bald as a coot..

I've known Sticky for about 3 years and have seen his lad Eddie grow up over those past few years. Eddie looks like a mini John and has always had these great freckles. I recently shot John for an exhibition I was doing and at the opening asked him and Claire, if I could shoot Eddie's portrait..?

Yesterday they dropped in for a 20 minute portrait and here are the results, like Father, like Son..
Eddie is 10 years old and isn't far from turning into a young man and teenager, he still has that innocence that we all once had and that is what I love about his series of images, along with his amazing freckles, that will fade over the coming years..

I honestly think the top 2 images of Eddie are my favourite portraits, that I've shot to date..


As always click on image to enlarge...