Cielo restaurant in Mayfair

Cielo is the restaurant counterpart to Luxx club, but has a very different vibe. Serving Sardinian-influenced cuisine, the restaurant features chain mail-clad walls, leather banquettes and more Philippe Starck Ghost chairs than you can shake a breadstick at.

Designed by Rossella Stina, the 40 cover restaurant features a mezzanine with retractable roof.

As well as photographing the interior for its launch and marketing campaign, I also shot some portraits of key staff and photographed its signature cocktails. The drinks photography was quite an improvised affair - using fading natural light in the mezzanine level and a metallic stool as a backdrop. Yet it's still possible to achieve some interesting results.

And finally... feeling square in Lyme Regis

To finish off this flurry of posts about lovely Lyme Regis, here are some square crops taken during the last week. I kind of miss having my Yashica 6x6 TLR or Mamiya 6 with me, but at least images from digital cameras can be cropped when being processed.

More from Lyme Regis... long exposures

I love the way long exposures can make the waves appear like smoke. It was pretty calm while we were there, but still possible to get some nice effects.

Lyme Regis in cinerama (almost)

Dogs in the fog, Monmouth Beach

Back from a glorious week in Lyme Regis, staying in a very cute cabin right on the beach. There's nothing like the sound of the sea to lull you to sleep... although the sudden appearance of a herd? flock? what is the collective noun? of leaping sand fleas through gaps in the floorboards was a little disconcerting. Luckily they didn't nip our ankles.

We had a mix of beautiful sunshine and very atmospheric sea fog, so there were plenty of opportunities to whip out my lens and poke it where it's not wanted.

Lyme Regis itself is a great place for a UK holiday, particularly out-of-season and midweek, when the daytripping hoards have departed. There are loads of good pubs, caffs and restaurants and a very cute Art Deco cinema, if you don't mind dodgy sound and a flickering screen!


Beach chalets



Fossil hunting at sunset



Lyme Regis shrouded in dense fog

Luxx interior: Mayfair's new invite-only club is neon-tastic

Do not adjust your sets, I promise that it's not 1986 all over again. This retro neon lighting is a key feature of Mayfair's new subterranean Luxx club, a venue for the wealthy and well-connected. Is it just me that thinks that it looks like it has been downloaded from Vice City?

Designed by Rossella Stina, the interior is a minimalist black box, with an illuminated catwalk running down its axis. The amazing LED light system has to be experienced to be believed. You just have to hope to be invited.

Upstairs is companion restaurant Cielo, which I have also just completed photographing for owner Luca Maggiora. 

PS Hope you liked my Cramps tribute in the headline

Friday 5 March: End of the working week

Never let it be said that i'm not spoilt with my walk to and from work... The grounds of Chiswick House at 6pm yesterday. I didn't see another soul, apart from a fox and the usual squawking parakeets.

Article on print marketing by Gareth in FX magazine March 2010

(Cross-posted from the fuwagardner blog): FX magazine recently commissioned me to write an article regarding the use of printed materials as part of the marketing campaigns for design-focused companies. It gave me a great opportunity to feature Catalogue 3, the book fuwagardner recently completed for architecture/interiors/design practice Project Orange.



You can read the full article here.

Book review in latest Bridge Design & Engineering magazine

One of my favourite journalistic tasks is writing reviews. It helps to keep your critical faculty sharp, while also gaining the extra satisfaction derived from taking extra time to really think about a subject.  
Hence I was really chuffed to be asked to review a book for the latest issue (Q1 2010) of Bridge Design & Engineering, the magazine for the international bridge industry. However, I can't say that the book really required the full engagement of my intellectual abilities!  
Visit the BD&E website for further news about the latest issue, which was published this week. And you can read my pithy prose here.