News

Cherish the hedge!

29/05/21

I've been working with the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group on 3 films for National Hedgerow Week, to promote management practices that are good for people and planet. Hedgerows are very important to us both environmentally and culturally, locking up carbon, cleaning air and providing a habitat for beneficial wildlife. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project!

Secret worlds

29/04/21

A friend of mine has set up a secret location where it is possible to photograph wild tawny owls and badgers by night, watching from a camouflaged position and with minimal disturbance to the animals. It was a delight to see them going about their business of feeding, grooming and calling to one another, a parallel and typically unseen world to us.

Shooting art

30/03/21

Over the last few years I've worked with the amazing artist Jenny Walshwho collaborates with scientists and uses glass with other materials to create sculptures that explore the relationship between art, science and technology. We've made short films together to promote her work, which I think evokes neuroscience in beautiful and fascinating ways.

Shooting streets

08/12/20

Outside of work, two of my favourite things to shoot are the natural world, and candid pictures of urban life captured in the moment, also known as street photography. Today I caught a strange effect of light and steam that turned an otherwise mundane moment into a ghostly and surreal figure. My non-camera hand clutching my 3-year-old's hand, who seemed similarly entranced as I was.

Goodbye Allan

09/09/20

Allan Brigham was a well-known and well-loved person in Cambridge; a Cambridge historian, tour guide, former roadsweeper and union rep, and a friend. Before he died, we made a film together about his life, underscoring the importance of everyone's history - not just that of 'the great and the good', and expressing his deep concerns for the future of the city.

ARTiculation Grand Final

13/03/20

The ARTiculation Prize encourages students to develop and express their opinions about visual art; I produced video and photographic coverage of the Grand Final, just before we all locked down!

ARTiculation prize

Shooting dance

01/03/20

I photographed a performance of dance and music by the amazing Samarparna Classical Arts group. I've always wanted to photograph dance and it made for some interesting shots, some of which I've included in my gallery of Events images.

30 years of sustainability leadership

11/09/19

I produced a short film to mark the 30th anniversary of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, which has worked to promote a viable future for people and the planet, bringing together leaders from government, the private sector and civil society to effect real change.

Empowering disadvantaged communities

11/02/19

I produced a film for the ClementJames Centre, a charity that works with people to realise their potential in one of the most unequal and disadvantaged areas in London.

Scrubbing up for surgery

19/10/17

I've been making a film about Royal Papworth Hospital with Cambridge Filmworks, and today we found ourselves filming open heart surgery. It was amazing and is an example of the techniques pioneered at this unique hospital, now in its hundredth year, and on the verge of its move to a new state-of-the-art site.

Positive Faith

08/10/17

I was privileged to produce a series of peer support films for the Positive Faith project, helping people either living with, affected by, or at risk from HIV.

Filming in the Caribbean

1/9/17

Been away for a week in St Lucia, making a short film about the lansan tree, a species that is tapped for resin and has disappeared from much of the Caribbean. Species like the St Lucia parrot eat its fruits and it is an integral part of the native rainforest. Link to follow...

New series of films on HIV and the church

12/12/16

I've just started a series of short films with CAPS, funded by Public Health England to support and empower Christians living with HIV, and to enable ministers, lay people, and HIV trainers to competently address HIV within churchgoing circles.

Honeypot Britain? New film project

10/12/16

I am due to start shooting a film for an interesting research project asking questions about migrant workers, testing the assertion that people come to the UK to exploit such things as social security benefits and healthcare. More to follow.

Prince Charles and Natural Capital management

29/11/16

I photographed Prince Charles on a visit to Cambridge to meet with business leaders to discuss enlightened approaches to management of natural resources.

Stephen Hawking

10/11/16

I photographed Stephen Hawking for the launch of the Cantab Capital Institute for the Mathematics of Information; the institute is researching among other things, imaging, which of course is right up my street.

Teaching and working with prisoners

13/10/16

I designed and conducted a teaching workshop with prisoners, where they learnt photography and filmmaking, and co-created a film.

The Model Conversation

07/06/16

Here is the full film I made for the Model Conversation project, for the Cambridgeshire Alliance for Independent Living, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Again it was an enlightening and humbling experience to get a brief window on the lives of people with physical disabilities; I hope the film goes some way to increase understanding and empathy for their potential and the difficulties they face.

New film on the changing lives of people with disabilties

09/02/16

I'm well into the shoot now for a film about the changing lives of people with disabilities and long-term health conditions. I'm working with extremely interesting people, and once again, it is an education - including what it feels like to be hit in the fast-paced game of goalball, a sport designed for blind athletes. More to follow...

Three new films on prison & faith

20/08/15

I've just started work on three new films for a very interesting ESRC-funded project called 'Leaving Prison In Faith' - on how faith communities can transform rehabilitation of ex-prisoners who have a religious faith. More to follow...

Working for Cambridge

Bringing things up to date, since last year I've been working on a number of projects for different departments of the University of Cambridge - producing films for Fitzwilliam college, the Master of Trinity College, Graduate Admissions Office (links to follow), Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Gates Cambridge, and photography projects for the Childcare Office's Playscheme, Faculty of Education and many others.

Jogging with Jody premieres at the Festival of Ideas

22/10/14

This week we had two screenings of 'Jogging with Jody', a documentary I made about desistance from crime. The first was at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse for the Festival of Ideas, and last night there was a special screening at the Institute of Criminology, with a Q&A with participants in the film - academics, ex-offenders and people involved in helping ex-offenders restart normal lives after lives of crime.

'Hora Chilena' to screen at Chile's Museum of Human Rights and Memory

11/9/14

I am very honoured that the film I made with two close Anglo-Chilean friends, 'Hora Chilena' will be shown at the Museum of Human Rights and Memory in Santiago, Chile on September 23rd.

The film tells the previously untold story of exiles from Chile's brutal 1973 military coup, who settled in Cambridge thanks to the kindness of Cambridge people and institutions like the University, language schools and local council wards.

New documentary films in production

19/8/14

I am currently producing two new documentary films; one on the rehabilitation of prolific offenders, and the other on the Church's attitudes to HIV/AIDS. I feel very privileged to be working on these subjects; more details will follow as the films progress, and both are due to be screened at public events in October - so I'd better get down to some hard work on them!

'Miss Jones' and son

17/6/14

I photographed the actress Frances de la Tour and her son for an article for Fauna & Flora International on how they support conservation. They were very friendly and gracious hosts, and I managed not to embarrass myself and her by mentioning her role in the classic TV series 'Rising Damp'!

Princess Laurentien for conservation

15/6/14

Just back from a whirlwind trip to Singapore and Sydney to document Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands' trip for Fauna & Flora International, where she was raising awareness of marine plastic pollution, and raising funds for important conservation work.

Another shot in the Guardian newspaper

12/4/14

Very honoured to have another shot featured in today's Guardian newspaper - a street portrait of a woman in a wonderfully colour-coordinated outfit. You can see it in the Guardian here and in the gallery section of this site.

Cambridge Science Festival 2014

7/4/14

It was nice to shoot the Science Festival again this year - you can see the pictures on their website here.

Farmland birds

20/1/14

Some of my bird photos on the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group website for the Big Farmland Bird Count.

My new Documentary film premieres this month

3/12/13

For the last 8 months I've been working on a documentary with two close friends. HORA CHILENA (Chilean Time) is a film about Chilean exiles from the brutal 1973 military coup, who settled in Cambridge thanks to the kindness of Cambridge people and institutions like the University, language schools and local council wards. It's a previously untold story, both sad and funny, and we're very proud of it. I hope you like it too.

The film was produced thanks to the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, and premieres at the Arts Picturehouse Cambridge on the 11th December at 6pm, and then screens at Amnesty International in London on the 14th at 3pm, and Clare College on the 16th at 8pm. You can book tickets here.

Filming Sir David Attenborough

31/10/13

It was an honour to film Sir David Attenborough, a legend of Natural History filmmaking, being interviewed by Radio 4's Libby Purves at an event held by Fauna & Flora International. You can watch the highlights reel here and the full interview here. I worked with the fantastic Cambridge Filmworks and Tom Aveling on this job.

My first wildlife cover shot

31/10/13

Delighted to have made the cover with one of my first paid wildlife assignments - an article on biodiversity in Cambridge college grounds and how people are working to enhance it. I watched, and was watched by this wild-eyed sparrowhawk for some time as he methodically devoured his prey! You can read the article here.

My shot in The Guardian

19/10/13

I was very surprised, pleased and proud to have a picture make The Guardian newspaper yesterday. It's of one of my favourite local characters. You can see it here.

Backstitch

08/10/13

I did some publicity photos for a friend's haberdashery business. Check out her site: backstitch.co.uk

Psst!

27/09/13

Just about to start editing a very interesting film that's been in production for the last few months. More to follow soon.

Cover article

10/09/13

I did a couple of shoots for the University's newsletter, one of which is the cover story. Always nice to have a cover! You can read the articles here.

Fish can think!

11/02/19

I produced a film for the ClementJames Centre, a charity that works with people to realise their potential in one of the most unequal and disadvantaged areas in London.

Ancient civilizations of the Amazon

12/06/13

I've just finished a short film on Eduardo Machicado Murillo, a Bolivian archaeologist who is building a picture of the ancient civilizations that practised agriculture in areas now covered by the Amazon rainforest. His research is contributing to greater understanding of peoples that have previously been categorized as primitive, and greater recognition of the rights of their descendents. You can watch the film here.

Badger & Fox

9/05/13

I've had the rare opportunity recently to photograph wild foxes and badgers at a site close to home. It's been a real treat to watch, up close, the kind of animals that normally you only catch a glimpse of. You can see more pictures in the gallery under wildlife.

Sssss!

4/04/13

Despite the unseasonably cold weather, adders have been slithering out of their communal winter quarters (called hibernacula) to bask in the weak sunshine. I've been out photographing them, and found them to be very shy and retiring creatures, despite their dangerous reputation. They are quite poisonous though so I wouldn't recommend treading on or poking one.

Shooting for Cambridge Science Festival

28/03/13

I covered a number of events for the Cambridge Science Festival, which was really good fun. You can see some of my images on the festival website, on the University's Flickr pages, on my Flickr pages, and in the events part of the gallery.

Sustainable Development lecture series

20/03/13

I just finished filming a whole series of lectures on sustainable development for the University. They featured an impressive list of speakers including Tim Jackson, Peter Gleick and Peter Bakker. You can watch them on the Programme for Sustainability Leadership's vimeo pages.

Posters for Fashion event released

27/02/13

You can see the two new posters from my shoot for the forthcoming 'Swishing' event for Cambridge Carbon Footprint here. Also see ; more pictures to follow in the forthcoming issue of Style magazine.

Fight climate change with Fashion!

05/02/13

Just did a fashion shoot for Cambridge Carbon Footprint. The models looked amazing, and the total cost of the 21 outfits was just over £100. More photos to follow soon here.

My first Channel 4 documentary broadcast

29/01/13

My first documentary film for Channel 4 was broadcast today on their new directors' slot, The Shooting Gallery. It is called 'Thabo', and you can see it here.

It's about a young man's crisis of faith on the day of his return to South Africa, where the church remains highly homophobic. I hope you like it.

The New Normal for Natural Disasters?

28/01/13

The Tohoku and Christchurch earthquakes, and hurricanes Sandy and Katrina all revealed the current vulnerability of critical infrastructure to natural disasters, and the inadequacy of current approaches to protect against their worst impacts.

I produced an interview and film of Professor Tom O'Rourke's recent lecture on this subject for the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, which you can see by clicking here.

First three Gates Cambridge films up

23/01/13

I am producing a series of profile films on Gates Cambridge scholarship students - extraordinary young people committed to making a positive change on some of the world's most pressing problems. You can see them by clicking here.

Banks commit to support their clients' sustainability goals

16/11/12

I did the photography and filming for the Banking Environment Initiative Forum, which is aiming to get banks to support the sustainability goals of their customers - who, for example, want to remove deforestation from their supply chains. You can see the photos here and the videos here (NB not HRH/Unilever).

CHRIS (KIP) LOADES

FILM & PHOTOGRAPHY