Capturing the Festival fun
When Richard is asked to photograph events, he loves the feeling of being able to show off Marlborough, and Marlburians, at their best.
And after 12 years photographing it, the Wine and Food Festival might just be his favourite gig.
“Events like the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival is one of those things I love – it feels like everyone is having one big birthday party because it's beautiful wines and food and everyone's just celebrating”, he says.
“I love the challenge of telling the day’s story through photos because it’s a big day as one person with a quite tight brief, so I'll get asked to get certain foods and wines – so I just put it in the calendar year on year and now everyone knows who I am so I become part of what's happening”.
“I do the odd wedding now and again which I really enjoy because I become one of the guests, yeah, and it's like that with the Festival too”.
However, the task of photographing the whole event keeps Richard on his feet all day and he rides the wave of the crowd’s excitement.
“I don't usually break at all - I might have a glass of water now and again, someone kind gives me a little plate of food, but I don't stop until I get home because I really get into the Festival mood.
“The hours of the Festival are just a pure celebration, and everyone's just enjoying themselves and loving it, making the most of the time they have”.
“I need to get that essence of what's going on and the magic that's happening around me, so it's a mixture of getting set shots and being aware of what's happening around you.
“But the candid stuff is the joy, it's where the magic is - that real essence of enjoyment and celebration – people love being part of the event’s storied history because there’s so much heritage and provenance behind being the country’s longest running Wine and Food Festival”.
And having seen the move to Renwick Domain last year, Richard says the Festival’s focus of a better customer experience makes it even better for him to photograph.
“For a photographer, it's better because it's flat and the bridge was always a bit of a bottleneck at the Brancott venue, so Renwick is excellent for that - I think the old venue made people stay in their zone whereas this is very easy just to walk across to somebody else.
“I was in a band for about 12 years, so I love the music, and I'm on-stage seeing people really connecting with that. There was a DJ last year, and to be honest, I'm not into that sort of music but he really connected with the audience”.
“It's really good for people to have somewhere to just let off steam and enjoy themselves -there's a lot of stress out in the world, sometimes you just get a shot, you think, wow, that's just going to stand now 50 years, that's still going to be a great shot
“It just warms the heart to see people really enjoying themselves, and I think that's great”.