articles - Page 19 of 29 - Nigel Goldsmith photography & film

PR photography for Hafren Round Britain sailing challenge

About 12 months ago I was invited to work on a photography project with a difference. Jeremy Warren and Phil Kirk are two highly experienced sailors who fancied a challenge. They thought they would attempt to sail around the UK in a Wayfarer dinghy (a very small but highly stable open boat). The boat is named after the Welsh princess Hafren which is also the Welsh name for the River Severn where the boat is based. I was invited to take pictures of the preparation leading up to the launch itself.

Hafren embarking from Weymouth at start of round Britain challenge

Hafren rounding Portland Bill

Jeremy and Phil sailed the boat day and night, sleeping in shifts on the open deck. For added ‘comfort’ they slept on two thin camping mats , their galley was a small camping stove supported on a home made gimble to prevent spillages. This little boat has had some major upgrades to make this endeavour possible including extra storage for food and water and the removal of an internal bulkhead to provide a sleeping space.

The previous record for sailing around the UK in a small dinghy was 72 days, Jeremy and Phil hoped to beat this though they knew it was going to be extremely hard.

Jeremy (left) and Phil (right) as they start their epic journey

They carried a Yellowbrick transmitter which regularly transmitted there location and uploaded it to their website so armchair sailers could follow their progress around the UK. They also posted regularly to Twitter and Facebook when they were in sight of land. They are raising funds for the RNLI and the Pappa Fund.

Position of Hafren is updated every 20 minutes via a Yellowbrick transmitter

Thanks to a combination of good weather, excellent sailing skills and night sailing they beat the previous record by 42 days coming in in 32 days and 2 hours.

The images have been used widely by both online and in print for local and national papers and magazines including the RYA magazine and Yaughting World.

Hafren round Britain. Nearly home

Hafren Round Britain Celebrations at the finishing line

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Ship breakers in Bangladesh

This image was part of a series of documentary images shot in 1998 of ship breakers on a beach just outside of the city of Chittagong in Bangladesh. The beach is the last port of call for numerous huge ships which are stripped down to their raw materials often with just pure brute force. While the ship breakers were mainly concerned with recovering steel and other metals from the ships they would also have to remove asbestos and other harmful materials from the ship.

While I was using digital cameras at the time I decided to shoot the whole project with the Hasselblad. The images were commissioned by a London based development organisation.

Prints from this series can be purchased from me directly. For more information, visit my print sales page

Ship breakers, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Living well with dementia – video and photography highlighting care in Gloucestershire

While good photographic images can really add to a website an animated slide show with a high quality voiceover presents the audience with a richer and more dynamic experience. This short promotion photo-film has been produced for South Gloucestershire Council to highlight the dementia care they provide in the area as part of the ‘living well with dementia’ strategy.

South Glos photofilm from PinholeWizard on Vimeo.

In addition to the video the client also gets a set of high resolution stills images. For more information call 07973 631185

Still image from dementia care promotional film - day care centre

Musical activity at dementia care home

The Marshfield Mummers

The ‘Town’ Crier’ leads the Marsfield Mummers along the High Street

I don’t normally work on Boxing Day however this year I was invited to photograph the Marshfield Mummers as they prepared for their annual performance.

Mummer’s costume case

The history of the Marshfield Mummers goes back more than two hundred years. The Mummers themselves are played by men local to the area, their identity is concealed by a costume made from torn strips of newspaper and cloth.

English Turpentine, used in the play for healing

Getting into costume

Typically, Marshfield is a sleepy village on the southern edge of the Cotswolds however on Boxing Day the pavements are packed with visitors who have come to see the annual performance.

The short 3 minute play is repeated a number of times along the High Street, between performances the Mummers walk in procession led by the ‘Town Crier’.

About to perform

The audience is invited to make a charitable donation to the Mummers, the money collected supports local projects. Many believe that a donation to the Mummers brings good luck for the following year. To read more about the Marshfield Mummers follow this link.

‘Saucy Jack’ a character from the Marshfield Mummers Christmas play

‘Beelzebub’ Marshfield Mummers

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Do you remember? Photography of ‘memory’ objects for care home

World War 2 gas mask and mustard gas treatment - memory image

World War 2 gas mask and anti-gas ointment

Reminiscence therapy is an important part of dementia care. Many deep-seated memories have a lot of emotion attached to them, objects and images can help to retrieve these memories. Reminiscence objects facilitate communication and can help people feel more socially integrated. The nature of dementia often means it’s easier for people to recall older memories than quickly bringing to mind day-to-day events.

I recently had the opportunity to join Jon Lale from ForgetMeNotBook.com to take some still life photographs of a collection of reminiscence and memory objects used by the care home company MHA to trigger memories and generate discussions with their residents. MHA had a mini museum of fascinating everyday objects from the last century. During the shoot Jon and I had a lot of “Do you remember this?” moments. The fascinating reminiscence objects in this ‘mini-museum’ included gas masks, toys and games, magazines, household objects, and other memorabilia. Here are just a few of the pictures. The images will allow more people to see the objects and reduce demand for some of the more delicate items in the collection. The pictures will be used uploaded to iPads and incorporated into memory games for the care home residents and visitors.

Cigarette card book from the 1930s