Get To Know: photographer and artist Dave Andrews
With a career spanning 20 years, the seasoned photographer shares how he’s forged long-standing working relationships with some of the biggest names in luxury retail
Tell us about yourself and how your career has evolved over the past 20 years?
‘I have always been passionate about art and creativity. After studying graphic design at college, I decided not to go to university and instead started working as a photographer’s assistant. After four years, I left to set up my own retouching agency, Phoenix Bespoke, working mainly on automotive and advertising campaigns. Now, after over 17 years, we have built up a client base that spans advertising, digital, fashion and luxury, with brands such as BMW, Dior, Hermès, adidas, Dazed, and Chanel.
‘A few years ago, we started offering moving image editing and colour grading to keep up with industry demands. I find moving image projects creatively fulfilling, due to it being more about crafting an atmosphere to evoke emotion, rather than just focusing more on the details when retouching stills.
‘I’ve also returned to photography recently, specialising in capturing landscape and still life imagery under my other company, Studio Andrews. I really love being able to split my time across multiple disciplines, as the shift in focus keeps me open creatively.’
You’ve been a Soho Works member in Shoreditch for more than five years – how has the new app helped your working relationships with other members?
‘Before the app, I’d worked mostly with other members based in Shoreditch, having met them more organically in the space. Now, having access to a digital global network has given me a greater pool of clients and collaborators to dive into, allowing for some exciting projects to take shape.
‘A recent example of this was a White City Works member, posting a question on the app looking for a photographer. I replied, and after several emails and meetings, she commissioned me to shoot the latest still life campaign for her jewellery brand, Aymer Maria. We used the newly opened photography studio housed in Shoreditch Soho Works for the project, which will be released in the coming months.’
How have you managed to maintain lasting relationships with brands you’ve worked with?
‘I have been fortunate to form lasting relationships with a lot of my clients – some for more than 15 years. I’ve always tried to work as closely with a client as possible. It’s important for me to take the time to understand their vision and make sure that we’re on the same wavelength. It makes projects run so much quicker and more seamlessly when you have that symbiotic relationship, particularly when creative endeavours are so subjective.’
What’s your proudest achievement to date?
‘I think that being able to work for myself for this long and at such a high level has been a huge achievement. Having the opportunity and freedom to work across photography, creative retouching and moving image gives me such a varied work environment.’
What are your goals for the next five years?
‘Pushing my creativity to new levels is going to be my focus moving forward, whether that be collaborating with more diverse brands and creative agencies, capturing beautiful and engaging photography, delving deeper into beauty retouching and VFX for moving image projects, or experimenting with 3D image creation. I thrive off new challenges and am excited by the ever-changing landscape that my multi-disciplinary career affords me.’