John McIntire Photography: The Blog

A Personal Collection: Of Vivienne Westwood Shoes

A Personal Collection: Of Vivienne Westwood Shoes is an exhibition currently on show at the @Gallery at the Barnsley Civic. This show is an absolute must for anyone remotely interested in fashion and of course shoes. Everyone of the eighty plus pairs of shoes on display is a masterpiece in itself! The collection itself, spans several decades of the designer’s illustrious career! From seemingly simple black heels with auspicious spikes potruding from the rear to the infamous, incredibly high platforms that saw Naomi Campbell spilled on a Paris catwalk, there is certainly something on display to catch the interest of everyone.

The exhibition is a testament to all the talent that not only went into the shoes, but into the exhibition. Having seen the gallery many times, it has been completely transformed into an atmospheric temple to the footwear on display. The moody lighting, the photographs, the quotes on display and the video all stand to direct attention and emphasise the shoes themselves and each exquisite pair commands just as much attention as the rest! No small feat considering the sheer amount on display.  This exhibition is clearly a labour of love by the entire team at the Civic and even though I was involved in early stages, I can assure you the exhibit screams triumphantly of the work put into it!

I had the immense pleasure and honour of working to create the photographs for the publicity material for this exhibition and I must say, every pair of shoes I got to photograph is a wonder! Though I was working under the close and astute art direction of David Sinclair, the mastermind behind the exhibit, I was still granted enough creative freedom as to photograph the shoes as they spoke to me! I must say that the several months I put into this material are by far some of the most rewarding and genuinely satisfying that I have had yet! Though I won’t go into details about the work put into it in this post, I must reiterate the honour of being granted such a dream job!

The exhibition has been on display since May and only has a week left on show as it finishes this Saturday, the 17th of July! If it strikes your fancy, I wholly recommend paying a visit to the Civic before it finishes to take in this breathtaking display!

Also, The Civic have created a limited edition run of postcards to accompany the exhibition. The high quality set features ten of the images I created for the exhibit including the four above. If you’d like a set of these postcards but cannot make it to the exhibit, please let me know via the contact forms on the site and I can arrange a set for you. The set is £5 plus P&P.

Model: Integra Fairbrook

I’m going to take great pleasure in introducing, to you, the wonderful talent that is Integra Fairbrook (formerly Sir Integra).

I first worked with Lauren over two years ago when she was first starting out. Even then, I could only applaud her charisma, her energy and her huge personality that helped to bring the images to life. Some of these are still favourites in my portfolio!

Since then, we’ve worked together on numerous occasions on all manner of projects. From fashion and beauty, to body paint, to parts modelling for the Vivienne Westwood exhibit at the Barnsley Civic, to my tattoo project, to latex; Lauren is always extremely versatile and always ready to tackle whatever the challenges head on.

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Most recently, Raychel Perks of Raynbow Studio has been working extremely hard to bring together a charity event called the Jean Genie (more information about this on the way!). Lauren, or rather Integra Fairbrook, donated her time to be the face of this charity competition and in the end, yet again proved why both Raychel and myself hold her in such high regard!

Whether you’re a photographer, or a business owner or anyone else that might need a model: book Integra Fairbrook. She never disappoints and if nothing else you’ll just be glad to have met such a lovely, wonderful person at the end of the day. Contact her through Model Mayhem or “like” her on Facebook! She’s not one to be overlooked!

Portraits Are For Life

A photographic portrait is a great many things to many different people but most importantly a portrait is an everlasting representation of you the moment it was taken. A sort of time capsule, if you will. Portraits evoke memories and emotions. A portrait can bring back the times of joyous youth or they can remind you of your personality and how you looked and the way you dressed in times past, though I’m sure not all people enjoy that aspect. A portrait is a memento that should be carried with you through the rest of your life to ignite and carry on the legacy that you’re building now. Amongst all this: a portrait is for life!

Our daily lives have been full of photographic portraits since their inception. Just think of how proud parents adorn the walls with their cherished children, grandparents build photographic shrines to their families, loved ones carry portraits of they’re loved ones everywhere they go, hard working breadwinners display they’re family on their desks as they pay the bills and social media ensures the first thing anyone new sees of you is a portrait. Portraits are the now!

Picture this: It’s thirty years from now on a rainy day. An impulse leads you to start dredging through all the old boxes you’ve set aside for such an occasion. You come across a pile of prints. All of which are portraits from different times in your life. Imagine remembering your life now. What do you see? What do you remember? How does it feel? Everyone, is of course, different; however, the catalyst for all of those emotions is a  portrait. An imprint of times past that can revitalise dormant memories at any time.

Now, the only caveat is that not all portraits last forever. There are the images you never want to see again. These portraits are often full of bad haircuts and fashion faux pas’. Think back to your school portraits. Does anyone keep those? Does anyone dare actually ever look at them? Society has tricked us into believing that the reason we hate the school portraits is because of ourselves. In actuality, it’s because they’re bad portraits and bad photography. Just think back to them for a moment and you’ll remember the long queues of hundreds or thousands of students standing in the photographic “assembly line” waiting to sit down for 30 seconds each under the same lighting set up with the same horrible mottled background. It was neither a fun experience nor was any effort put in to make a good portrait of you the subject.

Sadly, the trend of late in portrait studios across the world has been exactly this. Portraiture nowadays seems relegated to a single lighting set up for all subjects despite the common knowledge that there is no single lighting method that is flattering to everyone. It’s undermined by trends and fads spurred by technology. For example, can you honestly tell me that in 20 years time, you won’t cringe at the black and white photo with your eyes or a bunch of roses in colour that epitomises the late nineties and early noughties? Digital technology has allowed for the “machine gunning” of images and thus, far too many “photographers” make their selling point quantity where there is no quality. Portraiture in a lot of “portrait studios” is no longer about photography. It’s no longer about memories. It’s only manufacturing. these “portrait factories” will churn out thousands of low quality, heartless images a day with no care for the significance a portrait can hold in someone’s life. The defining factor that many people use these “portrait factories” is usually cost. All I can say to that is that old adages are old adages for a reason: you get what you pay for.

When I provide my portrait services, every session is unique. The lighting is styled and tailored to each individual in order to catch you, the subject, at your very best. Each image is carefully and painstakingly retouched to bring out the very best. Each single image is a relic, a memory, an emotion that means as much to me as the creator as it does you the subject. To me, every image is personal and lacklustre portraits do nothing but reflect on me the creator. I believe in quality and I believe in the everlasting.