#tom simmonds

INTERVIEW WITH TOM SIMMONDS AKA THE EVENT FIXER

Tom Simmonds, AKA @TheEventFixer, is an event planner based just outside of London. He coordinates a variety of events from weddings and birthdays to corporate and networking events with a range of experience and expertise in the industry to offer. ‘The Event Fixers’ offer a range of services to ensure the best possible outcome to the event; whether it’s execution or management. Tom is also a Freeman and Court Member of The Guild of Entrepreneurs who aim to support the Lord Mayor, promote excellence, foster fellowship and partake in charitable works.

It only seems like a few months since I received my letter of acceptance from Brighton University, now I’m third of the way though! Since enrolling, the fashion side of my photography work has taken a bit of a back seat. For the duration of the year we have been working on 18 summaries, 2 essays and 4 main projects, as it doesn’t really match with the style of my other work I have decided to show them here as opposed to my website!

Project 1 – Portraiture:

For my first project I was compelled to stay relatively within the bounds of fashion by combining previous work with new portraits. I decided to take a set of imaged from previous fashion photoshoots, I then shot again with the model in a new context, this being their rooms. I wanted to portray the models as they are in their regular lives outside of fashion. Presented as a series of paired images in a two by four grid in the order of room/set. I decided to present the images of the models in their rooms in black and white, this was to contrast them from the original images but to also focus the work on the model and their emotions without the distractions on colour.

Project 2 - Landscape:

For my second project I decided to take a more experimental step. I didn’t want to just shoot regular landscapes as I found it difficult to find any meaning at the time. I decided to create a set of snapshot style Polaroid photos taken from a collection of screenshots I took many years previous in the virtual worlds within a specific video game. It gelled with the theme of holiday snapshots because I spent a lot of time playing it as a child and it is now inaccessible, an environment that has passed by with the progression of time. I also chose to shot the images using instant film to bridge the gap between the virtual and the actual. The physicality of the images obfuscated a certain amount of the digital evidence that was visible within the original screenshots such as the aliasing along the edges of the objects in the scenes.

Project 3 - Document:

After the second project we moved on to semester two and a less broad remit. For my third project I decided to investigate and catalogue a series of murders that have occurred around the BN area of Brighton. Using a combination of news archives and public police reports I was able to plot a set of homicides on a map of the area. After collating the information I then went to each of the locations and shot a photograph of each scene. For my final presentation I displayed them along with the map of locations that I had created.

Project 4 - Fiction:

For my final project of year one I wanted to continue in similar vein to my previous project by focusing again on crime, this time specifically fictional crimes scenes. I put together a series of five case files containing detailed documents such as coroner’s, fingerprint and scene reports. As well as this I included photographs of the scenes along with images of the fabricated evidence and linked correspondence. For the presentation of this final project I decided to fabricate an office environment by adding a lamp, map and laptop to the scene, this combined with the case files completed the feel I was aiming for.

A few weeks ago I met up with the lovely Vanessa Tait to shoot a little set of images that I had wanted to do in the sea! After rummaging around in the local vintage shops I managed to get together a suitable outfit. You can see these images on the wonderful Whim Online Magazine website by following the link :)

Here are some more images from the shoot too :)

For this post I will be looking at the Canon AE-1 Program, this is pretty much the workhorse of my analogue photography as it's the one that I have used most often. And there is a reason for that, it's fantastic! Not only does it look great but it's durable reliable and produces excellent photos. I have a few variants of this camera but this is by far my favourite.

When I'm on a photoshoot this is the camera I'll usually use to get a different perspective. I shoot primarily with an 85mm on my main camera and the AE-1 paired with the 50mm 1.8 gives a wider view on things as well as images with a distinct feel to them.

Below are a few photos taken with the AE-1 Program:

Over the years that I have been doing photography I have accumulated quite an array of cameras and as my collection begins to grow I slowly learn more about them and I thought it would be good to share my finds in my blog. For my first post I'm going to look over the Polaroid 600 SE. When I was getting ready to write this post I was surprised by how much time had passed since I got this camera! Almost a year has gone by and although I haven't used it quite as often as I would have liked it's definitely a purchase I don't regret. I got the 600 SE in an online auction and as always you never know what the exact condition of the camera will be but I was very happy overall, after a bit of cleaning up and a replacement dark slide it was ready to shoot!

The camera shoots FujiFilm FP-100C or 120 with the appropriate back. This is obviously an expensive camera to use and this is one of the reasons I don't use it too often, although the main being it's size and weight. It's a very comfortable camera to use with it's built in handle and trigger but tugging it along on a photoshoot with my regular gear means I'm sometimes restricted when it comes to shoots that are out of town.

It is definitely one of my more unique looking cameras and it is an excellent addition to my collection! It looks rather good on display even if it isn't used too regularly.

Below are a few images that I took with it on a shoot with the lovely Louise. You can see a blog post on my shoot with her here. And more on my website at www.tomsimmonds.com/bardotsgirl