Portraits

Camden People’s Theatre in London celebrated its thirty years of existence with a private fundraiser and a show.

Performers who had been nurtured by CPT and gone on to fame in the wider world reprised the first part they performed when CPT gave them their start.

Before performing, each of them talked about the supportive atmosphere at CPT, where artistic expression was respected and valued. They said that that encouragement had given them the confidence to do things in public they never thought they could do.

Then the people behind the scenes outlined what CPT did, and asked the audience to give them money so they could continue doing it. Times are hard, they said, with ventures closing down. So it was all the more important to support CPT.

I was invited to photograph the evening, the social mixing before the show and then the show. I shot everything with the Canon RF 28-70mm f2.8 lens. The lighting was a real mix and low and I shot everything at 6400 ISO. It’s been a while since I have taken photos to someone’s requirements, and in such poor lighting.

Info: I shot the dancer at f/ 3.5, 1/1250 of a second at ISO 1000, and the man standing in the road at fl 2.8, 1/320 of a second atISO 200.

Shot with an Olympus E-PM1 with an Olympus 45mm f1.8 at f1.8, 1/1250th of a second and
ISO 200

The idea of men sitting in their workplace, which is what the carriages are, appealed to me. That and the fact that they were absorbed in their conversation. I particularly like the body and arm position of the man talking, the kind of presence that comes from being with people with whom one is comfortable.

Shot with a Fuji X100s at f/ 4.0, 1/640 second and ISO 200.

This is from April 2019, in what was an age of innocence before COVID hit. I don’t know the name of either of these people but we were on a camera walkabout together in a group of about ten of us. I’ve titled this with the name of the image from my Fuji X-T2 with 18-55 lens at 55mm, shot at ISO 400, 1/125th of a second and f5.6.

I remember that the camera they are looking at belonged to the man on the left and he was not sure about the settings, and the other man was helping him out.