Photographic location trends are changing. The Hollywood glamour and far-flung exoticism of bygone shoots are slowly being replaced by images of domesticity. Perhaps this is linked to the financial crisis and the onset of austerity. Our focus has shifted from how to spend our earnings – on trips abroad or luxury purchases, for example – to staying put and living frugally. It seems this shift is permeating photographic styles.
The industry itself is seeing fewer and fewer studio owners, with increasing numbers of studio rentals on a shoot for shoot basis. When it comes to travel, tightened purse strings and increased environmental awareness see fewer production teams jetting abroad, instead opting for in-studio set construction or domestic location sourcing.
At the last count there were no fewer than 10 film and photographic locations at Perseverance Works. The catalogue of locations available at PW ranges from rooftops to shoot kitchens, styles span minimalist to vintage and services extend from photography to post-production. It comes as no surprise then that virtually every main TV channel, magazine, furniture and fashion retailer has shot here and word is still spreading.
What’s more, with Google about to lease a seven storey building, ‘Silicon Roundabout’ just around the corner and David Cameron’s plans to turn Shoreditch into a dynamic technology hub to rival the US, the creative dynamism in the area seems set to grow. Add the Shoreditch fashion crowd to this growing market and you have an unrivalled recipe for creative vibrancy in the capital.
JJ Locations represents all locations on offer at PW, as well as many other unique sites around the UK. Realising the cultural shift towards domestic locations, JJ Locations has launched MyHouseYourLocation.com, uniting the wealth of residential and commercial locations throughout the country. From semis to schools, driveways to gardens, offices to hospitals the new venture acknowledges the increasing demand for a different sort of location shoot.
MHYL is currently recruiting new locations and aims to be the biggest free location library in the UK. Given the shrinking number of studio-owners in times of financial austerity, the project looks set to answer high market demand. Watch this space!