At the start of March 2021, I was asked to create a piece of art as a leaving gift for a member of staff who is leaving Sir John Deane’s College at the end of the academic year. There was a clear idea of what was wanted and there were some stand out areas of the college that I was asked to include somehow.
I was able to spend time around the empty college during the Easter Holidays. I was super lucky with one of the days and I was able to shoot with a mostly cloud free sky - the blue complimenting the red colour of the exterior of the college, both the old brick section and the newer modern section.
The final piece that I created and was gifted on the 9th July. It’s about 100x60cm in size and I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. It has a nice mix of personal moments for the recipient while more generally to others, it is quite clearly Sir John Deane’s to anyone (if you know the college).
With my career and work being based around product photography usually, seeing my work printed, framed and up on a wall isn’t common. However, seeing the reaction of the client to something like this is something that is genuinely so special and I am sure that it is something that will never disappear throughout my lifetime. I picked up the framed picture the day before it was presented and I was almost sad for only being able to see my work in it’s final state for less that 24 hours - but seeing the reaction of it being seen for the first time by my client hugely outweighed any feeling of sadness.
I just love knowing that it will be hung on the wall for years to come at someone’s home, I love knowing that people will ask about it when they see it and that there will be an interest in both the meaning behind the art work and in the photos themselves. I had it hung on a wall at my home for me to see what it will look like (and to take these photos) and while I was looking at it I just felt so proud.
A massive thanks to Mark at Art of Framing in Nantwich for doing such a wonderful job with the framing. He made the process so easy and stress free. Link to his site is here.
Finally, obviously a massive thank you to Sir John Deane’s for commissioning the piece from me. It was simply a pleasure creating such a personal piece of artwork.
