As a London Musicians Photographer I like to try and have the shoots outside as far as possible. It works so well to use unusual and beautiful places, where you might not normally expect to see the musician play. This adds an extra dimension to the results but also introduces the complications of the Great British weather! So we had a couple of false alarms, where rain meant we had to postpone the shoot. However I eventually managed to meet up with Roger in Greenwich in November.
Roger is the most fantastic and extremely busy horn player, so finding time in his schedule was a challenge in itself. As well as being a member of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, he also plays guest principal with many of the London orchestras.
As a soloist he has regularly performed around the UK, Europe and Australia and has made many recordings. The most recent of these being all of Mozart’s Horn Concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, where Roger is also Principal Horn.
Photos in the Old Royal Naval College
As if the park wasn’t enough we were also allowed to gain access to the Old Royal Naval College. This is where Roger is professor of horn at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. We had a wonderful couple of hours moving from one landmark to the next. It was also such a pleasure to listen to Roger play whilst photographing him.
Photographing musicians is quite different to other portrait photography in many respects. You have to find the right balance between the instrument and the personality of the musician themselves. It’s something I love doing and I think my background in music really helps me appreciate the perspective they want to achieve.
Listening to wonderful musicians play in fabulous surroundings isn’t such a bad way to spend a morning either! I hope you enjoy seeing some of my favourite images from our shoot..
