BEHIND THE LENS
CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
Behind the Lens Chris Christodoulou began his photographic career in 1979 at the Royal Albert Hall where he was the house photographer for 33 years. He specialises in live classical music, opera and show photography. This year he celebrates several important photographic milestones, 40 years of photographing the BBC Proms, 30 years opera production photography at the Royal College of Music and 25 years at Middle Temple.
My first job in the Temple was on a freezing cold night in November 1995. Dr John Birch, the then Temple Church Organist, knew my work from the Royal Albert Hall; I had been the House Photographer there since 1979 and he was curator of the organ. John wanted a picture of the Choir outside the Church for a Christmas card. The shoot was a great success and the start of a long and happy connection with Temple Church, Middle and Inner Temples. I have photographed many royal occasions – including more than 300 in London – but royal visits to Middle Temple, whether official or private, are always special. Over the years I could not fail to notice how much royal visitors enjoy coming to Middle Temple and relaxing in the company of Benchers and members they know so well. HRH The Duke of Cambridge is an enthusiastic and committed Royal Bencher and he plainly loves being part of, and adding to, the history and traditions of the Inn.
Two major challenges immediately presented themselves. The first was that I was entirely at the mercy of the daylight (or rather lack of it); the second was my fear of heights! I had to spend two weeks with a heavy plate camera (and endless other photographic kit) 18 feet above ground up a scaffolding tower. It was amazing to be up close and to be able read details which are simply not visible from ground level. I was left in no doubt as to the exemplary artistic skill and craft of these, the very best, stained-glass window makers. After the success of the stainedglass windows, the next project was to photograph every piece of silver in the Middle Temple collection, being sure to record their
corresponding hallmarks. The game of ‘find the hallmark’ on a piece of 16th Century silver which has been polished for 400 years proved to be as challenging as photographing the silver itself. If you want to photograph silver, it can be summed up in just one-word – ‘reflections’. You need a little reflection to give the image depth and life, but you do not particularly want an image of the photographer and his lights, tripod and camera reflected in the silver you are trying to photograph. After several tests, I built a one metre square cube out of 6mm opaque perspex sheeting with a little hole for my camera lens to poke through and painted white to further minimise any reflections. I was then fully in control of my lighting and the amount of shadows and reflections I wanted to introduce into the shot. The importance of the commission became immediately apparent when Ian Garwood, the Inn’s Director of Estates, handed me the collection schedule with the valuations. It was at that point that I developed
Three royal occasions stand out: the re-dedication in 2013 of the Temple Church organ with HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh; the year-long events in celebration of 800 years of Magna Carta, leading up to the national commemoration at Runnymede in June 2015; and TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s private visit to meet the students awarded their Cambridge Scholarships in October 2012. Archival photography is a significant part of my work and my first important archive commission for Middle Temple was to photograph the stained-glass windows in the Hall as full panels and individual crests. They had never before been photographed in their entirety. Each of the 14 windows, and the 16 individual panels which make up each window, had to be recorded.
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Temple Church Choir photographed in 1995
2020 Middle Templar
