Here's to 2016
2016 has been packed full of exciting and interesting shoots; it's been hard work, exciting, and fulfilling. I decided to look back over the year and choose my favourite 5 images. They're not the most obvious or the most stunning, but my personal highlights for various reasons all explained below.
I hope you too have had a great year, a relaxing festive break, and I wish you all a very happy New Year. Here's to 2016, and looking forward to a great 2017. And most of all, here's to you all; people I've worked with, readers, friends and family.
I was commissioned by Sport Magazine back in September to travel to Amir Kahn's gym in Bolton to photograph WBA Lightweight World Champion, Anthony Crolla. I walked into a sauna-like gym meeting both Anthony and his trainer, Joe Gallagher. Anthony was in the thick of an intense training session ahead of a huge fight, but welcomed me with open arms to shadow him. Documenting him train and being granted access to such close quarters allowed me to take two frames for this portrait; a favourite for Anthony's intensity and focus, all conveyed straight into my lens.
Being able to watch this top athlete in training and to experience his friendly, professional charisma makes me a lucky man. Top chap.
In the middle of the summer I took on a personal project documenting the Rapa das Bestas held in Galicia, Spain. Over three days I immersed myself with village locals and photographed their c400 year old tradition which literally translates to 'The Shearing of the Beasts'. We spent days in the mountains herding wild horses which were to be wrestled by the warriors in the 'curro'; it was intense and exciting (and hot!).
I chose this image due to the excitement I felt to be so close to hundreds of stampeding wild horses charging past me, kicking up back-lit dust and making the ground shake. I love that a situation can be so enthralling and speedy and over in the a flash, yet a beautiful and delicate moment like this can be captured.
You can view the whole story here.
Working alongside the wonderful guys and gals at Guts & Glory I had around ten minutes to photograph football legends Paul Ince and Jimmy Bullard for Carling. It was an amusing campaign based around the Godfather, and these chaps were nothing short of hilarious during the day's filming.
I'm proud of this image; we had an extremely small window of time to light and shoot this, yet it's got everything I can hope for; expression, narrative and light! The wonders of great assistants; thank you Will Corder.
Half way through the year I started a personal project called 'Guitarists' which, funnily enough, is a series of portraits of guitarists. It's been great to see the project evolve (www.alexwallace.co/guitarists) and to look forward to adding more wonderful players.
When Cousin Avi's frontman Francisco Iannuzzi visited I was welcomed with a private gig of funk-songwriter-blues-soul-wonderfulness. Couple that with a cool guitar and I'm a happy man.
One of my last shoots of 2016 was for the Premier League over at Ferry Lane in Tottenham. I'd visited Ferry Lane before (www.alexwallace.co/the-premier-league) and it was great to be back in such a historic venue for their Kicks program, this time with a visit from England player Deli Ali. It was an event packed full of media, but to look beyond that and see wonderful intimate moments like this is something I love to do. The kids were absolutely enthralled to see Deli Ali, one of their local heroes, and you can see that on their faces. It's a one-frame, one-second moment but one of my favourites.