School of Rock - contemporary school portrait photography
You may remember in 2014 that I was booked by a fantastic school to photograph ALL of their pupils across two schools, for a special project they were doing to give the children confidence in their appearance.
Well, over the summer last year I had the privilege to be invited back to do it all over again, but this time with a brand new theme.
The school had the idea that they wanted the photographs to resemble album covers which got me really excited.
I suggested I photograph all the children on different coloured backdrops and incorporate their slogan for that year 'I Shine, We Shine' onto the photo to look like the album title. I would then have them all printed up in a square format to really finish the whole look off. Thankfully they loved the idea and I couldn't wait to get started.
The children were all asked to bring in their own clothes to give the images some personality, and as each child came up I asked them to strike their best pop star pose.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, these kids are incredible. Fun, energetic and busting with personality, not to mention incredibly polite to go with it. As I was setting up each morning I was inundated with children offering to help - which was a good job really as setting up this equipment really needed more than one pair of hands. So many of the children thanked me for taking their photo and whenever I thanked them for helping me out I would always get a 'you're welcome' in reply.
Photographing around 1000 children in 4 days is no mean feat, especially when you're trying to get the children to pose in their own unique way so that all the photos look completely different. Dealing with lots of different personalities, some outgoing, some shy, some jokers really keeps you on your toes, but it's the bit of my job that I really love.
When the four days were over, and all the photos had been edited and printed, the schools held an exhibition in their halls for all the parents to come and see. And best of all, the parents all got to take their child's photograph home with them. Free of charge.
I'd like to say a big thank you to head teacher Mr Flathers, his project manager Stephanie Moritz and his phenomenal staff for yet again making me feel so welcome and for letting me be a part of such an incredible initiative.
My own school photographs from the 1970s look nothing like this by the way, since when did kids get so cool?
