Photographers Blog

By David Gray

I have been photographing Michael Phelps for over 8 years, which has included 3 Olympic Games and 3 World Swimming Championships and I have never seen him like this – a goldless man.

I even saw him in a race that for the first time did not result in a podium finish. And then the U.S. team only finished second in the 4X100M freestyle relay race, which included Phelps and his now great rival team mate, Ryan Lochte. I never thought this would be possible.

But the perceived rivalry between Phelps and Lochte is a very interesting story here at the London Olympic Games. Whenever I photographed the two of them together in the past, they would always be laughing, joking, and never, ever ignoring one another. Since the first training session here in London last Monday afternoon, I’ve noticed the lack of talk, smiles, laughter, and even recognition.

Lochte is no longer finishing second to ‘The King’, so I am left wondering if these results have affected their friendship. The simple fact is, I will never know, but I am hoping they can recover from their competitive thoughts and acknowledge each others amazing abilities. I recently saw the movie ‘Senna’ about the rivalry between the Formula One drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, and how they went from friends, to enemies, and back to being very close friends. I am hoping perhaps these two great rivals will have a similar story.

Phelps was the highlight for me at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won 8 gold medals to become the most successful Olympian in history.

By Paul Hackett

I first became aware of Hackney Wick over the last year or so and went once or twice for lunch. Last year I went to the Hackney Wicked arts festival held there and was struck by how raw the place felt – none of the normal sensibilities of any London arts event I had been to. The event had an energy to it which for some of the time didn’t feel entirely comfortable.

I went for a wander last weekend to have a look at the place and take some pictures – I was interested in this enclave of artists nestling so close to the massive modern structure of the Olympic park.

As soon as I got out of my car I could see two young men painting a mural on a wall – not an everyday sight on London’s streets – but it looked entirely normal. In fact when I got close to them I could see another couple of artists doing the same thing further up the road.

By Olivia Harris

London is a city full of trees, well-known for its public parks. But away from the bustle of Hyde Park and Regents Park are the gardens hidden in its residential squares, the quiet, shady spaces, ringed with iron railings and hedges that separate you from the rush of the city.

I have often spent sunny afternoons talking with friends in city squares. Parents bring their children and city workers share beers there after work.

These quiet corners of the city began to emerge, like much of London, in a haphazard fashion. In the 19th century, developers began to include private communal gardens for residents of the city’s squares. But Berkley Square exists because Lord Berkely insisted it shouldn’t be built on when the surrounding area was developed – to preserve the view from his London townhouse.

By Suzanne Plunkett

On the outside, Angels The Costumiers is a drab grey warehouse bordered on one side by an industrial estate and on another by an artery of railway lines ferrying weary commuters to the endless suburbs of northwest London. Inside, it’s pure Hollywood.

As the world’s largest supplier of outfits to cinema, stage and television, Angels is home to more than eight miles of clothing rails — a vast and dizzying maze in which it’s simultaneously possible to lose yourself and stumble upon a piece of movie history.

SLIDESHOW: COSTUMES OF THE STARS

“This here is our £60,000-pound rail,” says Jeremy Angel, a creative manager at the costumier, gesturing to a rack on which hangs hundreds of drab-looking ecclesiastical garments. “It’s where we found the Obi-Wan Kenobi robe.”

By Stefan Wermuth

In my view, London is a great city because of its cosmopolitan people who live and work there every day. I wanted to know what they think about this big event called Olympics, which will take place for two weeks in their city.

Laim Carter, a 19 year-old guardsman who has lived in London for two month, poses for a picture in Chelsea. When asked what he felt about London hosting the Olympics, Carter said: “It’s good.”

I went with my camera and a basic voice recorder to the streets of Balham, Westminster, The City of London, Brixton, Wandsworth, Shoreditch, Battersea, Lambeth and Chelsea and met all kind of different people.

By Suzanne Plunkett

When Queen Elizabeth II makes a public appearance there is usually a long list of protocol rules for those handling the visit, but this clearly doesn’t include what to do when hailstones start showering down.

The Queen was caught in a sudden hail storm on Wednesday while meeting the public in Richmond Park, southwest of London. Dark clouds overhead unleashed a torrent of ice on the 86-year-old monarch and a bitter wind tried to snatch away her umbrella.

The burst of wintry weather caught many people off guard. There were squeals from school children gathered for the event.

By Stefan Wermuth

A walk from the Olympic side to ‘Little Venice’ along the Hertford Union canal and the Regents Canal.

I started my journey at the Overground station Hackney Wick. You will not find Hackney Wick in a travel guide under ‘highlights’ or ‘things to do’ but it has his own charm and its own ‘highlights’.

One of the ‘Highlights’ is also my culinary tip. Half-way between the station and the access to the Hertford Union canal is the cafe “The Griddlers”, located next to a car conversion shop. It’s a breakfast point for workers around the Olympic construction side. There is no Goût Mieux plate at the door but it’s authentic and the people are very friendly. The food is honest and cheap. I tried meal number 6 – scrambled eggs, baked beans, sausages and buttered toast. While eating number 6, I enjoyed looking at replicas of Paul Fischer’s ‘Girls bathing” and Jack Vettriano’s ‘Mad Dogs’.

By Danish Siddiqui

London to me, as a photographer, is a uniquely diverse place to capture on camera in terms of its people and their stories. It amalgamates a lot of complexities that make for compelling narratives.

A couple months back I went to London from Mumbai as part of a short assignment, to get some experience out of my usual domain. I worked closely with the Reuters UK team and specifically Andrew Winning on the production of a multimedia piece that would tell the story of young Muslim converts in London.

In an age where there is a lot of skepticism around Islam, empirical evidence has proved otherwise. A study, for instance, has suggested that more than 100,000 people converted to Islam in the last decade. London is one such melting pot. And the city made for an interesting background to follow the life of one such convert.

By Eddie Keogh

The world now is a very different place to the one that held the Ancient Olympic Games which only lasted for one day. In those days only men could compete and only unmarried women could watch. It was rumored that women would dress up like men in order to get in, but that sounds a little Pythonesque….

The greatest show on earth is due to take place this summer in London. For a London boy who has photographed sport for the past 30 years, having the Olympics here is very special. It won’t be my first, that was in Los Angeles. As a 21 year old kid working for a London news agency, I can still remember my jaw dropping when I was asked to go. My hair is a little greyer now, but I still have the photography bug and was looking forward to covering the Olympic test events.

Now it’s a very serious business. The stadiums and venues are ready and the testing is now in full flow. As a photographer working for Reuters in Britain we shoot a lot of Premier League football, so to have the opportunity to shoot some different sports is challenging but really interesting. We need to get the right balance on each job, from nailing an important moment that tells the story of the day to shooting some pretty or unusual angles. Sometimes I get it good and other times I get it better. (Ok, I’ve missed a few, just don’t tell the boss.)

By Suzanne Plunkett

British sports fans are a serious bunch. When it comes to football (they never call it soccer), many would rather lose their home than miss their team score a winning goal. Club allegiance is often demonstrated with tribal passion – influencing tattoos, clothing and even choice of marital partners.

When American football makes a rare appearance in London, it’s somewhat of a surprise to see the seriousness of the sport replaced with a more frivolous obsession: cheerleaders.

That’s not to say British fans have no interest in the sport. When the Chicago Bears took on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a showcase game at Wembley Stadium in October, I spoke to plenty of Brits among the American expats paying homage to their national sport. Many professed as much fanaticism as the American supporters who had traveled from the States specifically to see their team.