I was in Belgium to cover the events marking the centenary of the battle of Passchendaele. These commemorations are very important to me as I believe the sacrifice these men and women made for their countries must be remembered.
I set out on this assignment wanting to take pictures that showed the solemnity and symbol of remembrance of the occasion and did not want my photographic coverage to be merely about what colour hat the Duchess of Cambridge would be wearing.
Before the commemorations started I went to the Menin Gate to watch the daily event of the Last Post being sounded. Every evening since 1928 members of the local fire service have played the Last Post under the arches of the gate on which are inscribed the names of some 54,000 members of the UK and Commonwealth forces killed around Ypres. They have no known graves.
Following the moving ceremony I bumped into a government press officer I know who told me that if I waited a little while longer they were holding a full dress rehearsal for the following days ceremony at the gate.
I joined a crowd of civil servants acting as members of the public inside the Menin Gate and watched as preparations began. The BBC were broadcasting the events and were now in charge of proceedings. Soldiers took up positions around the gate and as it began to get dark the BBC turned on their broadcasting lights. The entire gate inside and out was now illuminated and looked stunning.
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As soldiers were taking up their positions they kept walking past a low angled broadcast light that was illuminating a wall of names. I knew that was the picture I wanted but I was too far away and now locked behind a barrier with a load of civil servants, unable to move.
It was frustrating to sit through the entire ceremony and not get to where my picture was. The time dragged by. Finally the rehearsal finished and I vaulted over the barrier to get to where the picture was. But by now the only shadows on the wall were of BBC technicians with their headphones on; not quite the emotive picture I was looking for.
A technician passed me by. “How long are the lights staying on for?” I asked.
“We’re shutting them down in a minute as we need to save the gels.”
I started to panic. I couldn’t wait for this picture to happen. I had to make it happen right now. I looked around and saw a group of Royal Marines in their distinctive peaked caps who were part of the rehearsal acting as dignitaries (I could tell this by the named placards around their necks). I approached the “King of Belgium”.
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“I’m a photographer from The Times newspaper, can I borrow you for a second?”
“I’m not allowed…..” he began.
“It’s not you, it’s your shadow I’m after,” I said.
Curiosity must have got the better of him as I asked him to stand near the broadcast light. His shadow was immediately thrown onto the wall. “That’s what I’m after!” I said.
“Oh, that’s nice” the king of Belgium said as he looked at his shadow falling across the inscribed names. Just then some BBC technicians decided to have a meeting right over the lamp and the marine’s shadow disappeared.
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“Aargh! Please can you move away from the lamp!” I yelled in frustration. The techs looked at me blankly.
“Sorry. I need to photograph his shadow on the wall.” The techs still looked at me, not moving.
“We’re shutting the lights down in a minute,” one said helpfully. “We need to save the gels,” another added.
“I know! Can you just move away from the lamp for just 10 seconds?”
They moved and instantly the marine’s shadow leapt back onto the wall. “Oh that’s nice” one of the techs said.
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I fired frame after frame and then the lights went out. It didn’t matter. I had the picture I had set out to get. The picture looks so calm and peaceful, but as always the anxiety in getting the frame was a different story.
The picture was taken using a Canon EOS 5D mk IV with a 28-70mm lens, 1/500th second at f2.8, 3200 ISO.