Fathers of the Euro

I was invited to a high-calibre book launch and corporate mingling event at the German Embassy. His excellency the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Georg Boomgaarden had invited high-ranking officials from politics and finance to speak on the birth history of the European currency, the Euro. David Marsh, a journalist, banker and book author had just published a book on the subject and the event was held at the ambassador's residence in Belgravia. Most impressive was Karl-Otto Poehl, former president of the Bundesbank and one of the founding fathers of the currency who despite his advanced age gave a humorous and very captivating talk on the emergence of the Euro.

Of course, photos were required, but the man with the camera wasn't so welcome. So I did what I could, careful to get my job done, but not upset the honourable guests with clicking noises and flashlight. My suit didn't really feel that comfortable either, and I was probably the only guest not wearing a tie. I am proud of that...

Chasing Alpha

A sure sign of knowing that you've been doing the same thing for a while is when you get asked to photograph somebody you already did years earlier. In this case, it was author Philip Augar, a quiet and softly-spoken man who has a rare insight into the world of finance and corporate banking and doesn't mind talking about it. The reason is that he used to be one such much-criticised banker himself, and one who left that world disgusted and disillusioned. He has since proceeded to write three books criticising the world of finance, the latest appearing this spring called 'Chasing Alpha'.

Gone to Limerick

Economic downturn stories seem to dominate my schedule at the moment. Here is one I was supposed to do last week but courtesy of the snowy weather we had to reschedule for a week later: Dell is leaving town, relocating to Poland for the sake of higher profit margins.

So early flight to Ireland, rent car, parachute into Limerick and start chasing the same people that were interviewed last week by my colleague (who flew a day earlier). Folks, it wasn't easy: arranging to meet four individuals in the course of a day and shoot three separate locations as well in a town you don't know before catching your flight home in the evening isn't for everyone I guess. But it happened, and I was very glad to be back, eventually.
Here is the crop from a rather long day...

Snow snow snow

It was fun in the park throwing snowballs, but not so much fun getting stuck on trains and airports earlier that day. In many ways, I probably could have predicted it: a few inches of snow on the ground = England grinds to a halt. Nevermind, the snowman more than made up for a wasted day in travel chaos.

Credit crunchies

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing two ladies symbolically affected by the much-cited credit crunch. The sad bit is that they were not the ones who have done much to deserve their fate. Chera-Lynn, a production manager for a documentary filmmaker lost her job as their clients in the corporate world cut budgets. Ironically, they had stated half a year earlier that now was the time to invest in charity and social projects which Chera-Lynn was busy documenting. Here my favourite portrait of her:


Sunna, a small boutique owner in Notting Hill is battling the economic downturn by radically cutting prices, reducing stock and having renegotiated the rent with the landlord of her shop. This image sums it up best I think: