Palermo

Bella Italia, Sicily, Palermo, another port. I am back on a ship, this time the Arctic Sunrise. It's not that long ago since I've left the Esperanza, and admittedly, I've missed being at sea.

So along comes the next Greenpeace commission, this time for one month in the Mediterranean Sea. Our objective is to find and confiscate illegal driftnets used by fishermen who flout the international moratorium. But for now, I've just arrived in Palermo and had a walk through town. Thought I'd share some of those impressions, and more from the campaign later...

Harpic or Dettol?

Today we visited Bart Becht, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, world leader in manufacturing those boring, everyday household products. Similar to their product advertisements, the interview was also in the no-frills, but quality category. The room we met in was a mix between a sterile lab and an art gallery displaying cleaning products. Weird, but somehow wonderful...

Meeting Mandelson

This was a rush assignment, and a simple brief: European Commissioner of Trade Peter Mandelson and his official car. The rest was down to his PR and busy schedule. It was quick - all of three minutes, during which I managed eight pictures. My selection sent to the newspaper is here:

Hedge Funds - again!

Life in London is getting busy after being away for a long time - commissions keep coming - perhaps it's coincidence, perhaps it's just that time of year, perhaps it's just luck. But in any case, I'm glad it's busy - features, portraits and interviews soon merge into the 'normal' of working life.


I would hate to call meeting Simon von Oppenheim a 'normal' occurrence, because none is. Every situation is different and has its own challenges. Here, we had 45 minutes for an interview - he's a pleasant, calm, slightly shy nice man who granted us time for an interview during which I took candid portraits. The setting was not ideal: a small office, not much light and nothing really striking except for a piece of artwork on the wall whilst I tried to come up with a quirky photo. Some of the results are here, and one still makes me smile - wanna guess which one?

Karma Cab, Sir?

Karma Kars has got to be one of the top ten ideas in London - picture an old Indian Ambassador car, an interior decor influenced by too much LSD and a cabbie that goes with it. Meet Tobias Moss, founder of Karma Kars, London's self-proclaimed 'boutique' car service. It's funky and it's fun. And I liked the car (which is unusual for me), and its owner (which is less unusual - I generally like people). So there are a few pics from the assignment:

101 years and still going strong

Yes, this man says he is 101 years old, worked all his life, still does, goes to the pub and smokes - and is training to run the London marathon. No kidding, feisty Buster Martin is fast becoming a London legend with the media attention, his minder and the resulting PR - luckily he made time for me and allowed me to photograph him jogging across Westminster Bridge in preparation for the upcoming marathon.