The AXA Team

Recently, my life has been full of ‘A’s. I’ve been shooting pictures for AXA Insurance Group, and I’ve snapped an amazing dance-troop called ‘The A Team.’

Both jobs are great to do, but they’re so different! It has definitely reminded me how photography can differ from one day to the next.

The A-Team are a really talented group of dancers. They know how to pose, they know how they want to look, and - no doubt - they know how to dance.

The troop have got the world at their feet. They’ve got dancers as young as 11 in there, as well as others who’re 25-30, backing up the energy of youth with experience. They tell me that they’re going to be on Sky TV soon, too. Tune in! I promise you they will be well worth watching.

When I shot them they were great fun. They brought loads of their own ideas to the table. Every one of them had their own thoughts about new angles to create, new poses to hit. As they were natural posers I saw this as an opportunity to do some really creative, really high-end photography.

On the day of the A-Team shoot, I took a little stroll from my underground lair, upstairs to the courtyard. When I turned the corner I found the entire troop putting on a little show for everyone who was having their lunch. They were busting some serious moves! Even watching them brought me out in a sweat...

I’d love it if you kept in touch with their progress on Twitter. It’s rare for people so talented to have the personalities to go with it. These lot certainly did, they were top banana. Give them a follow @ATeam_Official

The AXA Insurance Group stuff is a completely different kettle of fish.

The job is this: I travel around the country and take quirky pictures of AXA team members! When I’ve taken all of the shots I’m going to compile them into a series of bigger, quirkier pictures which include loads of different people and poses. In the end, the finished product is going to be an aesthetic treat. This project has given me loads of ideas!

But this is definitely the long game. Whereas The A Team bopped into my studio at 1000 miles-per-hour (does anyone say ‘bopped’ anymore?) taking pictures all over the country is closer to a marathon than a sprint.

But I am loving it! AXA, you’ve got some great characters in your team. I thought I might have trouble getting some of them to let go in front of my lens... what do I know, eh? It turns out most of them didn’t even have a shell to come out of. They’ve been great fun! Top team.

I have been laughing my way around the AXA network. I’ve been up north, down south and to a whole bundle of places in the middle! (Also, I’ve spent a lot of time in my studio retouching and editing - come and visit lonely Cary? This big pop-in portraits project is still on!)

I’ll blog again soon, there’s loads of stuff going on. On top of that Santa’s coming! I best clean that chimney...

New Studio: All’s Well That Ends In Clerkenwell.

New Studio: All’s Well That Ends In Clerkenwell.

Afternoon!

I probably need to start with a massive apology. I haven’t blogged for donkey’s years, but, my friends, there is a very good reason for that: I’ve moved into a new studio!

Well, technically, have I ‘moved’? The thing is, I’ve never had a studio before. Before now I've made it my habit to beg, steal and borrow space from other people, so it's brilliant to finally have a place to call my own. That's why having a studio is very new, very busy and very cool for me! 

I’m now in a brilliant space at The Clerkenwell Workshops. The whole place is buzzing with creatives, entrepreneurs and tech-heads. My studio is modern, comfortable and very practical: it's a Shoot Space.

It’s as long as an elephant’s nosebag, which is really useful for photography. I’ve put in some beautiful chairs so that my friends and clients need never suffer any unnecessary back-pain. Also, I am particularly proud of my bin. It looks like Artoo-Detoo who, some might argue, looks like a bin.

I’ve been in the studio for two months now, and I've had a big realisation: furniture is difficult.

That may not make sense straight away, but trust me. I’ve been in this studio for over two months - that’s well over 60 days, a lot more than 1440 hours - and I still can’t find the stuff I’m looking for. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a load of top-notch bits and bobs, but my appetite for soft furnishings has not yet been satiated.

I think my problem is that I only want really, really, really, really good stuff. I want my studio to look amazing in that retro-chic kinda way. I don’t want the place to look like a particular Scandinavian-budget-furniture-outlet vomited all over the place.

Ah well, I am very happy with what I’ve got and I kind of enjoy sniffing around for more! Drop in and have a look if you want? I’m serious! The studio is on the Basement level of Clerkenwell Workshops, on your left as you’re coming down the stairs, you can’t miss it. I’m the good looking chap with the beard, fyi.

I’ll blog again soon, don’t you worry. I won’t disappear off the face of the earth again. There’s a lot going on my end what with all the shoots, and I’ve got a couple of projects up my sleeve that I need to tell you about.

Until then, keep up to speed with everything Cary Hammond by following @hammondtweets on Twitter. It’d be brilliant to chat.

Cary.