The beauty of reportage is that it never really goes out of fashion. With so much of the our print media we now receive either retouched or over manipulated, it is very difficult for the viewer to know what is ‘real’ and what is retouched. Our trust in printed imagery is changing. However a reaction to this trend is steadily taking shape and there is now a movement back to ‘pure’ photography. Photography has always been about capturing the moment and never more so than now. As budgets tighten reportage photography offers an effective alternative to the glossy unbelievable imagery in so much of today’s editorial and advertising. 

Subsequently when Audrey Dickie of Gigha Hertitage trust approached me to produce photographs for a forthcoming calendar I jumped at the chance. This gave me the chance to go back to my roots and work on a real reportage assignment.

Working without payment but with all expenses paid Audrey asked me provide portraits of the colourful characters on the Island of Gigha. The intention of the calendar is to help maintain the Island’s profile.

Gigha is a unique community owned Island, seven miles long by a mile and half wide situated three miles west of the Kintyre Pensular.

In 2002 the Islanders with the help of the Scottish Land Fund and the lottery bought back their island from the private land owner Derek Holt with a £3.5m grant.

From my perspective the intention of the project was to keep the assignment as real and natural as possible. Armed with only a Canon 5d digital camera and two lenses a, 17-35 mm and 50 mm I set off for Gigha. I remember reading an interview with Sabiastiao Salgado in which he claimed it was important to be as close to the subject as possible. He did’nt believe in using telephoto lenses!

I was allocated two hours with each person, this would hopefully give me the opportunity to build up a picture of their working life. 

Pictured above and below are portraits of some of the workers of Tarbet Farm.

Thanks must go to Mark, Adam and Kirsten for giving up their time during the milking of the cows.

Kirsten with Daisy on her lap

Whenever working with ‘real’ people( not actors or models) it is important to quickly establish a rapport, subsequently this will allow the portrait session to flow naturally.  The more you engage with you subject the greater the return. 

Each person chosen for the portrait session had a wonderful story to tell, none more so than the chairman of the trust Willie McSporran, pictured below.

Ann has recently become the new Minister on the Island and is pictured inside Gigha Church

The award winning wind farm on the island is an impressive project. In its first full year of operation it generated £100,000 of profit to reinvest into the community. Andy is in charge of maintenance and dat to day running of the wind farm.

John Martin is pictured in the wonderful clear waters off the boat house beach. Later that week John rowed around the Island for charity.

What a pair of rogues. Johnny and Willie being themselves.

Ewan adds to the fun

The offshore salmon cages at the Salmon farm 

Gigha Halibut Farm

A wonderful misty morning was spent photographing Kenny and Betty Robison at Ardlamy farm. Kenny has a great relationship with his herd of Friesan dairy cattle. After the photo shoot Betty treated us to tea and toast in her lovely farmhouse kitchen. 

Anthony attempts to calm our concerns, ” don’t worry, the surf break is over there, its that dot in the middle of the Indian ocean”.

After a restful night sleeping under the stars we were greeted by the most amazing sunrise and a display by a local pod of dolphins.

With the ocean starting to become calm a decision was taken to motor further south towards the equator and the more exposed reefs of the Thaa atoll. By this stage I was beginning thinking that I had died and gone straight to Heaven. The journey south was through some of the most beautiful, unspoilt seascapes I had ever seen, lush palm fringed islands, crystal clear coral reefs, a mirror smooth sea and not a soul for miles around.

The Thaa atoll gave us our first chance to surf in waves that resembled a giant aquarium. On catching a wave hundreds of parrot fish would quickly flee the reef above which you were surfing. The refraction of the crystal clear water gave the impression we were only surfing inches above razor sharp coral, this combined with the fact we were hundreds of miles from nearest medical help left most feeling a little uneasy when surfing in the first week.

For the next two weeks every day would follow the same surreal routine. A sunrise shout by the first person to wake up was followed by a 2 hour sunrise surf (most of us found the only way to wake up was jump overboard from the top deck). Then a ‘wolf’ whistle from the crew anchored in the channel announced breakfast was ready. After a short rest, another surf for two-three hours followed by a beautiful lunch caught fresh from the sea by our cook. An after lunch rest or read was then superseded by ANOTHER surf until sunset. Our evening meal was usually conducted in near silence as most of us were too shattered to talk.

A generous statement by the captain of free beer as a recompense for a broken air conditioning generator seemed wonderful offer at first, but after one sleepless night in cabins that resembled the steam room at my local health club a decision was made by most of us to sleep under the stars on the top deck!

After several days surfing the perfect waves on the south eastern edge of Thaa atoll, Anthony our guide recommended we travel three hours south to one of the few inhabited islands on the Atoll. A wonderful afternoon was spent surfing in front of the spectacular palm fringed island succeeded by our first introduction to authentic Maldivian culture. Nearly all the Islands in the thousand strong island chain are Muslim. And each island would seem to follow a similar layout of perfect grid pattern streets, a mosque, a community centre, a general store, a football and volleyball pitch and bizarrely a mobile phone mast. The locals were shocked to see our grinning European faces. We were now hundreds of miles from the nearest holiday resort. Even more surprising was when one of the fishermen said the magical words ‘Manchester United’, tonight on television. So there we were at 11.45 p.m, laying down in a concrete hut with only coconuts for refreshments watching the champions league! Paradise!

A true desert island!

We soon learnt that each island has a function within the atoll. Some islands are used like the one below for growing vegetables for the region and subsequently only have a population of a handful of people, others support the thriving line caught tuna fishing industry like the one above, while at least one Island in the chain will provide medical facilities.

On the first friday afternoon of our trip a boat laden with local Maldivian surfers appeared from one of the neighbouring islands. This was our first contact with other surfers for more than a week and was also due to be our only one during our entire stay. It was humbling to watch them surf in jeans on a mixture of broken boards and boards without surfboard wax. Surfing without wax, now that takes some balance!

With our spirit of adventure now firmly ingrained and our surfing confidence increasing we decided to head further south again to explore the Gaafu Atoll. Gaafu Atoll is only 60 miles north of the equator and home to one the most intimidating waves in the region, Yin Yang.

Although the take off on the wave is pleasant, the wave then accelerates over a razor sharp coral reef forming one of the most powerful waves in the region. Any mistake here is rewarded with a trip to the local hospital (which luckily is situated on the adjacent island). From my experience of surfing around the world I have always found that if I have any doubts about the reef I’m surfing on, the best solution is to swim amongst waves with a mask and flippers. At least that way I know what the hazards are. Even from underwater and behind the wave one can see how the wave breaks, like a cylinder sucking water from the reef.

The photograph below illustrates a lovely story. Nick is 49, an Osteopath from the south coast of England, and this was his first ever surfing holiday. So after hearing the frightening accounts of what could happen to him if he collided with coral, Nick decided to watch from the sanctuary of the boat. After all it was looking like he could make a small fortune from treating the wounded. But frustration got the better of him and after two days of watching, Nick decided to paddle out to the waves. This is his first wave, an absolute screamer.

Our surf guide Anthony was very keen to emphasis the dangers of surfing the infamous reef, paradoxically minutes after this photograph was taken Anthony didn’t heed his own advice and got pitched head first onto the reef resulting in 12 stitches and a very serious head injury!

Anthony still smiling but very concussed after his accident. The bloody opening in his hat shows where is head crashed into the reef.

This photograph looks like the aftermath of the Tsunami, but is actually one of the main changes that will take place to the Atoll in 2009 with the opening of the first tourist resort ,the Olhuveli village. I suppose this underdeveloped wilderness had to change one day. I just hope the local community benefit from the proposed $600 per night 5 star resort. The concrete posts lying in the water will later be used to support the wooden bungalows so sort after by wealthy tourists from China.

The Asian Tsunami had a devastating effect on the Maldives. Over ten thousand people lost their lives and many more lost their ability to grow vegetables with so much of the soil infected with sea water. Fortunately some of the islands are now starting develop vegetable plots for the first time since the devastation.

The south west monsoon usually arrives in late May but unluckily for us the rains and the strong winds commenced in the last few days of our voyage.This still gave me wonderful opportunities for photography because, despite the inclement weather above the water, below the water the visibility remained stunningly clear.

My main photographic subject for the last few days were the children from the neighbouring island, many of whom would spend hours diving off the top deck of adjacent fishing boats.

This was intended to be a once in a lifetime voyage, the only problem is I want to do whole journey again, and straight away.

This was an ambitious two week photographic project to follow the route of the Kasbahs from Marrakech in the west to Merzouga in the east of the country. Our intention was to immerse ourselves deep into Moroccan culture by staying in the wonderful ryads and auberges along the route. Time was needed in each location to win over the trust of each of our photographic subjects. Our journey started at the wonderful Ryad El Borj in the Medina of Marrakech. This hotel was chosen because of its great interiors, ideal for shooting portraiture projects. A new blog will appear showcasing this work in the coming weeks.

After a long arduous 8 hour drive through the Atlas mountains we arrived at the Kasbah Ellouze in Tamdaght. The village is close to the legendary UNESCO listed kasbah of Ait Benhaddou made famous in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia. Some amazing characters inhabit Ait Benhaddou and each one has an amzing story to tell. One of the main reasons for visiting Ait Benhaddou was to photograph the village under moonlight. The clear unpolluted desert air would be perfect to photograph the village using purely the light from the moon. The surreal results which are reflective of moonlight in a 1970′s film are shown below.

After two days in the windswept valleys of Ait Benhaddou we followed a recommendation from Alistair Sawday’s ‘Special places to stay in Morocco’ and headed for the mysterious fortified pise village of Tinejdad. Built by the nomads of the day the village is a film set grid of alleyways designed as a defence system. Today the village retains an authentic innocence bereft of tourists. A lovely story was told to us by the museum guide of the Kasbah. Every friday afternoon the local unmarried women of the surrounding villages would meet on top of the small hill behind the village to talk and bathe in hot springs. At the end of the day each of the girls would roll down the hill. The direction the women finish up in decides the village they will find their future husband in. What an innocent yet effective way of finding your match! 

Two beautiful moonlit nights in the medieval Maison d’Hote El Khorbat in Tinejdad were followed by another four hour drive through some of the most deserted but beautiful landscape to the romantic sand dune dominated village of Merzouga. Now made famous by the Paris-Dakar rally the villages boast some of the tallest sand dunes anywhere in the world.

Our return journey to Marrakesh took us via the arid desert landscape that runs parallel to the Algerian border and on to the tourist town of Zagora.

From there our route to Marrakech passed the beautiful palm groves that line the valley just outside Zagora and the incongruous ‘Gladiator’ film set at Ouarzazate studios.  

Morocco is a wonderful country with very friendly welcoming people, more so when you embrace their culture. The country is rich in film set locations and interesting characters. It can be tiring though, especially when you travel with a camera. Even when you think you are alone in the most remote parts of the country someone will appear demanding money for a modelling fee or to show you a sunrise or sunset. Fake ‘Berbers’ are everywhere but retaining a sense of humour is essential to enjoying a good assignment in Morocco. Its also important to remember that 20p or the equivalent is nothing to us but everything to people who do not belong to a welfare state. Would I go back, yes straight away.

If you have any more questions don’t hesitate to contact me at :

simon@simonmccomb.co.uk

or visit my website

simonmccomb.co.uk

In the spring of 2008 I was commissioned by the Body Shop International to produce photographs for their Autumn 2008 collection. The photographs were taken for a global brand identity campaign

The brief for the assignment was to move away from the bland white backgrounds and stark white locations synonymous with so many lifestyle shoots. Instead the Bodyshop required warm autumnal tones, saturated dark backgrounds and models with expressive and cheerful personalities.

We also searched for models who could act as well as look good. It was important for each scenario to be believable.

After an exhaustive casting in which nearly 200 models turned up in a period of over two hours, five models were chosen to represent the different age groups required. Next up was the location search. This became a real challenge to find a vibrant, colourful setting.

After visiting over 40 properties in the London area with the help of 1st option and Zownir, a rather elegant four storey town house was chosen in the Richmond area. Unusually the owner had painted the house in browns, reds and greens which was perfect for our shoot.

Lighting is essential to good health and beauty photography, so for this shoot ‘film’ lighting was chosen. Daylight and Tungsten lights were mixed to give a cinematic feel and emphasize the feeling of warmth. 

Art Director : Scott Corbett

Make-up : Jane Sinclair

Assistant : Stuart Rose

The second commission from the Bodyshop was to produce photographs for one of their key areas of marketing, the Bodyshop ‘at home brand’. These are parties in which a professional Bodyshop consultant demonstrates a selection of new products from the Bodyshop range. The parties are cheerful, entertaining, informative and the photography should reflect this. 

Art Director : Scott Corbett

Make-up : Kim Jacobs

Assistant : Stuart Rose

Contact : Simon McComb : 07802 585028