New Interiors for Office Design Co...

Office Design Co are a world class interior design studio in Harare who have been creating beautiful interior spaces for some of Zimbabwe’s largest corporates for over 20 years. So naturally I was thrilled when the directors Olly and Steve asked me to create some images of one of their recent interior designes for CABS bank. The brief was to capture a variety of wide angle shots of the whole interior space as well as a few close detail shots.

Client: CABS Bank, Old Mutual Properties.

Olly French - Designed

Steve Bailey Project Managed

Construction by Rogers Kativu - Delomic Construction

Shop fitting by Lovemore Wood - McWood Shopfitters

Electrical, lighting and containment by Ivan Johnson of JDI

QS team of George Mutyanda and Alfred Muzavazi - of MGP

Signage - Askeland Media

A tasty calendar...

I am lucky enough to do a lot of food photography, so I was more than pleased when I was approached by Freddy Hirsch Zimbabwe to help them create images for their 2019 calendar. The meals where prepared by the awesome chefs at The Bistro Restaurant and my good friend Giani DiTano was in charge of the art direction. The brief was to photograph scrumptious dishes of food that showcased the range of Freddy Hirsch spices. I also photographed each spice pack in the studio along with a heaped pile of the spices to showcase the vibrant colours of each spice. I am sure you will agree that the combination of delicious food and vibrant colours complement each other well in the calendar.

Axia Corporation...

Axia Corporation is one of Zimbabwe’s largest corporates with interests in the home furnishings and appliances, automative and distribution markets, so when they asked me to help them create some unique images for their 2018 annual report I was delighted!

The brief was to capture engaging images of each brands’ retail premises, staff and products that encapsulates their commitment to a quality product and service. I spent a day shooting at each brand, starting with the automative giant Transerv which you can see below.

The next day I joined the Axia marketing team at their home furnishing and appliance division TV Sales and Home where we visited a variety of their retail stores to capture the staff, retail spaces and available products.

To cap it all off we spent the day at one of the countries largest fast moving consumer goods distribution companies, Distribution Group Africa. Their distribution centre must be one of the biggest commercial spaces I have ever photographed, with the opportunity to create vast wide angle shots being around every corner! Check out some of the shots in the gallery below.

I would like to thank the marketing and admin folk from Axia as well as all the SBU’s that we visited while shooting for the annual report for their hard work and patience during this frenetic exercise!

Zooming around with Zuva Petroleum...

Zuva Petroleum is one of Zimbabwe’s biggest fuel companies, with over 100 station’s around the country, so when they asked me to photograph all their stations I filled up and hit the road! The trip required a lot planning and consideration to ensure that the light was right for each station, the sheer numbers of stations there where to photography however meant that not all of them where photographed in the golden hour light. Despite this though I, and more importantly Zuva, where very happy with the results which you can see below!

Garfunkels Grill...

I was approached by Garfunkels in 2018 to help create a variety of food and lifestyle images to promote their restaurants in Harare, the Garfunkels Grill and their takeaway business. Naturally I am always happy photographing food, even if it means I am drooling for several hours in a row! Check out some of the delicious results below.

In addition to the food photography I was also tasked with creating some lifestyle pics of their staff at work in the restaurant as well as some staged images of guests having a great time. We shot in both venues to get a variety of different shots, don’t you love the beaming smile on the Pizza makers face?

The campaign would have been incomplete without some great exterior and interior shots of the restaurant spaces, so a good amount of time was spent shooting at different times of the day to get the best results possible.

The kind of Trouble we love having in our studio....

I am a great lover of Chilli sauce, and Dr Trouble is about as good as it gets! I have photographed Dr Trouble in the studio before and so was more than excited when I was asked to photograph their new bottles which had been re-labeled. The brief was to get a variety of shots of the front and back of each bottle, as well as a variety of creative shots of individual and groups of bottles. I am very happy with the results, let me what your favourite shot is in the comments below!

Zooming in on Zimplats...

I was thrilled to have been contracted this year to photograph one of Zimbabwe’s largest mining groups, Zimplats for their 2018 Annual Report. The assignment entailed 3 full days of photography at their main Ngezi mining operation, in their surrounding community and at their ore smelter. The scope of the Zimplats operation is massive and despite running around like a headless chicken for the duration of the assignment I felt that I only really scratched the surface in terms of the potential images on offer.

One of the requirements in the brief was to capture new, alluring images of their mining infrastructure, so I was up and about capturing images in the soft early morning light as well as the wonderfully complimentary evening blue light. I was also asked to capture as many intriguing pictures of the Zimplats employees at work, with an emphasis on capturing as many different woman in their varied roles at the mine. Check out some of the resulting images below, and be sure to see their annual report here.

After shooting the mining operations I turned my lens to the Selous Metallurgical Complex (SMC) where the mined ore is smelted down for transport to and further refining in South Africa. Again the emphasis was to be on the scope of the infrastructure as well as people at work in their various roles at the SMC.

The shear size of the infrastructure at Zimplats is nothing less than overwhelming, and there is no better way to show this this then with a drone, I flew my aerial buddy a lot during my shoot and managed to capture some wonderful images that give the perspective of size and scope well.

Zimplats is no stranger to their local, regional and countrywide community and they have consistently implemented and supported projects aimed at uplifting both the infrastructure and people within those communities. No corporate shoot would be complete without a focus on these community development efforts.

Overall I had a manic but enjoyable time shooting for Zimplats, and I am sure you can agree that I managed to capture the essence of their operations, people and community efforts well. I am very happy with the results and thoroughly enjoyed my time working with the team at Zimplats! I would like to extend my thanks to the Zimplats team for all their hard work involved in making this shoot a success.