David Renfrey Photo Profile
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Born : England, Pennines. Lancashire side someplace between Barnsley and Bolton. Currently Based : UK, West Midlands mostly Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Areas of Activity : UK, North Western Europe, Scandinavia and North America Main Topics Covered : Fashion, Portraits and Music ( from unsigned singer songwriters to major bands and musicians ). Other Topics Covered : Fashion Bridal. Model Portfolios. The occasional travel log and the odd newspaper and magazine assignments. Photos Published : Coldplay, Skunk Anansie, Neil Young, Alice Cooper, Bjork, David Bowie, Massive Attack, Snow Patrol, Carina Round, Kat Bjelland, Alanis Morisette, The Killers, Heather Nova, KT Tunstall etc etc Other works of note : Marlboro Grand Prix Model portfolios. Kim Garrison photos as used on SITV ( USA Cable TV network ) Kat Bjelland photos as used by Warner Bros and whilst working at the Neuro Hopstial I covered out of hours medical photography used mainly for research by individual consultants. All very artistic ................ There are many examples of my photos scattered over the globe which I seemingly have little control over from photos used in magazines, newspapers, cable television and covers for Boot Leg CD's. I do however sanction the photos I despatch to various bands to actively promote themselves either on the internet or by any other means they so choose. How I Work : I usually use 35 mm equipment and I mostly work with available light using a light meter and grey card but I will use flash heads for studio work or when need arises. I used to use a flashgun for covering gigs but stopped doing so after I blinded The SoHo Dolls on stage. ( Sorry ) Saw the era of my ways and now rarely use one. I still use film on assignments mostly for black and white photos as I feel this gives a different image that digital somehow fails to capture. To this end I use Fuji Neopan 1600, Illford XP2, Illford Delta 400 or Illford HP5 all depending upon the available light . I mostly use digital to capture the colour images. I can sometimes be found wearing a headband at gigs as they help to keep my hair from falling into my eyes and the cloth also helps stop the moisture from building up on the camera back plate and from fogging the eye piece. Development and Education : I studied art and its influences on society at college especially Impressionism, Abstraction, Expressionism, Post Impressionism and Dadaism before moving over to photography. As well as photography I left college with a Diploma in Business Studies going onto undertake an MBA course at university in the fashion industry at a later date. In the intermediate period I used to work as a Medical Technical Officer and gained another diploma. This time in Anaesthetics and Surgery I left medical after the Neuro Surgical hospital closed moving back to the fashion industry to help a design company which led indirectly back to photography. Photographic Style : My photographic style is a sort of mix between impressionism and expressionism only heavily influenced with the Spanish world of El Greco, Miro and Picasso and also by Japanese art, especially in the use of flat perspectives washed out faces and lavish use of contrasting block colours. Look closely and you will see the under lying themes seeping to the surface in the photos that I take and how I put graphics and web pages together. This comes from falling in love with the Post Impressionist art movement, which also found a common theme in Japanese art forms at the turn of the last century. Basically it is a search consciously or unconsciously almost a longing for something beautiful, mysterious and forever beyond reach. To that end I will manipulate an image and sometimes radically so only for some unknown reason it is usually the colour digital images that I attack, mostly leaving the black and white film images seen as taken. I will also distort and abstract the image in the camera while taking a photo and these are also left as seen only they will appear as being photoshoped but it is not always the case. Personally I do not consider digital imagery as real and I just love the freedom to be able to run riot with the colours and settings. I have no hard or fast rules as to which image this might apply to and as like it or not there are many images that remain unaltered only in the grand manner that not every portrait is a true likeness I see no real reason why I shouldn't alter certain images to achieve something which the eye would not normally see and there is the greatness of still photography. To freeze something in a moment that one would not ordinarily see in a lifetime. . Having said that I am quite capable of taking a perfect portrait only sometimes I feel constrained by its weight of expectation and probably just bored by the ridged guidelines. Hence my three influences El Greco, Miro and Picasso. Simple really. If you still fail to understand then please feel free to gen up on your art history. Its all there seen, painted, taken and done before. Currently Supporting : Carina Round, Kim Garrison, Telegramme, Laura Kidd ( She Makes War ) Keira May ( Ex singer from Left Over Lucy ) and Odessa Chen to gain a wider audience. From time to time I also support local muscians in the West Midlands area and these have included Nikki Rous, Jimm Zombie, Caroline 7, Chrissy Van Dyke and Ben Calvert mostly singer song writers. Influences : El Greco, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Andre Kertesz, Lillian Bassman, Marc Chagal Christian Dior and Gabriel Garcia Marques If you wish to contact me then go to the Contacts page on this website or send an e-mail to David at this link david@davidrenfrey.com or leave a message on My Space Page.
This is me undertaking medical work and a few years later on photo assignment in Los Angeles
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