Last week I had the pleasure of spending a day with Dr Raj Thethi of Skin Radiance Clinics.
I worked with Dr Raj a couple of years ago when he was first starting out so it was a real pleasure to be invited back to document his new skin aesthetic treatments with real patients.
This time round I was working alongside Martin Richard Productions who was filming the treatments at the same time. We were in a fairly small room so it was quite a challenge to stay on task while keeping out of each other’s way. My work was split between documenting the consultations and treatments while also providing behind the scenes shots of the filming that was taking place.
Shooting on the hottest day of the year
Part of being a commercial photographer is having to adapt to difficult conditions. I’ve shot in quarries and dusty warehouses before but this shoot came with its own particular challenge – heat!
We shot on the hottest day of the year with temperatures outside reaching 34 degrees. Our small office wasn’t air conditioned and because we were filming audio, the windows had to be closed for most of the day. Throw into the mix constant video lighting and it made for a really challenging environment. I’d have thought the temperature in our room comfortably hit 40 degrees plus.
Documenting ground-breaking aesthetic treatments
I really enjoy documentary photography. Having free reign to candidly capture events unfolding is by far my favourite way to work. I particularly enjoy the challenge of carrying out that task alongside a specific brief.
In this case my main brief was to document the procedures without showing needles – a particularly tricky assignment for largely needle-based procedures.
This is where experience, technical choices and composition really come to the fore. There are clearly parts of the process that don’t involve needles – consultations, pre and after care etc. These are straightforward.
Where things get a little more challenging are during the procedure itself. Here I used a combination of techniques – sometimes positioning myself in such a way that the needle itself was obscured. For other shots, I used shallow depth of field with focus on Dr Raj’s face so that the needle itself was out of focus. For other shots it’s a case of capturing the moments immediately before or after the needle.
Skilled craftsmanship
Despite not being a fan of needles myself, it was absolutely fascinating to see Dr Raj in action. Whatever your feelings on aesthetic treatments like this you have to admire the skill that goes into the work.
Watching Dr Raj in action was like watching any other craftsman – he’s almost like a sculpter, fine-tuning his creation until it’s complete. It was a real privilege to see him work.
“The more said about Simon the better!! Not only his he without a doubt an excellent Photographer and artist, he is profoundly an amazing person to work with. He listened to my specification and delivered ten fold. I was very picky with what I wanted and I am hard to please.”
Dr Raj Thethi, Skin Radiance Clinics Ltd
Looking for a lifestyle photographer? To discuss a photography brief please get in touch and I’d be happy to talk through some ideas. I’d love to work with you!
