{"id":2767,"date":"2018-05-31T08:45:34","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T08:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=2767"},"modified":"2023-03-22T12:40:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T12:40:29","slug":"examined-life-chris-jackson-bsc-2002-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/2018\/05\/31\/examined-life-chris-jackson-bsc-2002-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Examined Life: Chris Jackson (BSc 2002)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Chris Jackson (BSc 2002) is the award-winning Royal photographer for Getty Images, one of the world\u2019s leading photo agencies.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex) was an incredible experience.<\/strong> From the grounds of Windsor Castle there was a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere. It was incredible to see so many representatives from Prince Harry\u2019s charities such as Sentebale invited to witness at first hand such a special day. I was there to capture the Royal couple\u2019s first moments as a married couple.<\/p>\n

My job is about trying to capture that excitement.<\/strong> When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge married, more than two billion people watched. We had a team of 30 photographers covering every perspective. We even shot it in 3D. I was shooting the Duke and Duchess when they came out of Westminster Abbey. My pictures went straight to the Getty Images editing team, through a cable which had been specially laid under the road. Then it was just \u2013 woosh \u2013 and my pictures had gone all around the world.<\/p>\n

In terms of practicalities, I always recce the position first and check I\u2019ve got the right lenses<\/strong>. On the night I\u2019ll stay in a hotel round the corner so I can get past the crowds – you just can\u2019t risk not being able to get there. Last Royal Wedding, I was up at two in the morning, testing all my equipment.<\/p>\n

As a Royal photographer, I\u2019ve got a front row seat to moments in history. <\/strong>It\u2019s such a buzz to be part of that. I meet so many amazing people, from all walks of life, even world leaders. The Royal Family make great subjects \u2013 there are so many different personalities. I love photographing Prince George, he\u2019s so sweet.<\/p>\n

No two days are the same in the Royal Diary<\/strong>. But there are lots of traditional things – Royal Ascot, Trooping the Colour, the Highland Games.\u00a0 I might be doing formal portraits one moment then something relaxed in Africa the next.<\/p>\n

I feel very privileged to travel, and I\u2019m very grateful. <\/strong>There will be Royal Tours throughout the year, but who goes will be dependent on circumstance \u2013 is someone pregnant? Is there a wedding? Last September I photographed the Invictus Games in Toronto: that was great; Prince Harry is so passionate about it, and of course it was the Duchess of Sussex\u2019s first official appearance. I also had a great trip to Italy with the Prince of Wales. This year, of course we went to Australia for the Commonwealth Games, and had a great trip to Sweden and Norway with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.<\/p>\n

Working with Sentebale [Prince Harry\u2019s charity] is the most rewarding thing I\u2019ve done. <\/strong>The kids you meet are incredible, and a lot of them have HIV \u2013 but we were able to bring the cameras out and teach them some photography which was fantastic. The kids absolutely loved it.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of Royals with interests in photography.<\/strong> We\u2019ve seen the Queen use a camera a few times! The Duchess of Cambridge has taken some lovely pictures; we\u2019ve seen some that she\u2019s taken recently of Princess Charlotte.<\/p>\n

Over the years I\u2019ve done lots of things outside of Royal engagements.<\/strong> I\u2019ve trekked Kilimanjaro for Red Nose Day, worked with luxury brands, and at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals. That\u2019s the great thing about Getty Images, we work in lots of areas and have an incredible team of people.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t go into my career with a certainty that I\u2019d become a Royal photographer.<\/strong> These things develop organically. I\u2019m an artsy person, but science felt like the sensible thing to do! I took a degree in the subjects that had interested me at A-Level: biology, physics, and chemistry. Cardiff\u2019s course in Physiology and Psychology was unique. I\u2019m really glad I did it because it gave me the skills to study and a different method of doing things.<\/p>\n

Cardiff was a really great place to go to uni, because it was so relaxed. \u00a0<\/strong>Being from the Brecon Beacons, I knew Cardiff quite well. But I got to know it in a different way as a student. I probably spent a bit much<\/span> too much time in Jive Hive \u2013 it was every Wednesday, for about two-and-a-half years! I also used to work in The End pub, which isn\u2019t there now. It was a very good time in life.<\/p>\n

I spent my first student loan payment on a camera<\/strong>. I was seeing my pictures published every week in Gair Rhydd<\/em> and being sent on assignments like: \u2018Is there a rubbish issue in Cardiff?\u2019 and \u2018Are energy drinks bad for your health?\u2019 Sometimes I got my friends to model, they were always willing subjects!<\/p>\n

I had a dark room in the cellar of my house on Woodville Road.<\/strong> It was a dump, so I cleaned it all up. I was getting really into developing my photos, and my flatmates were probably wondering where I had gone.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to be really passionate to make it in photography, and work hard. <\/strong>After university, I moved to London and did lots of work experience at places like Reuters. I got a graduate loan to buy the cameras and computers and everything I needed. I shot in my free time, and went to cover anything I could cover. It meant I was starting to build up a portfolio to show my bosses at Getty Images.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no strict rule for taking a good photo. <\/strong>What\u2019s important is deciding how you approach the subject: you might be trying to achieve something abstract, you might be trying to make a true documentary of what\u2019s in front of you. You need to react quickly to any situation, be it a change in light or placement – and I always have to get to places hours early to prepare. Don\u2019t be late!<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to come back to Cardiff. It\u2019s a great city. <\/strong>I\u2019d like to run the Cardiff University\/Cardiff Half Marathon! As soon as I get back, I go on a run. It\u2019s the best way to see everything so you know, and there\u2019s so many things on your doorstep in Wales.<\/p>\n

Illustration by Anton Brand<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Jackson (BSc 2002) is the award-winning Royal photographer for Getty Images, one of the world\u2019s leading photo agencies.","protected":false},"author":1106,"featured_media":2768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,163,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiff-connect","category-examined-life","category-news"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2792,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2767\/revisions\/2792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}