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Return of the Giants to Liverpool

Last year gave me the chance to photograph the beloved Giants for a third time in Liverpool. On the two previous occasions I had covered the event working for the Liverpool Echo. This being in 2012 and 2014. This time though since setting up my own business in 2015 I covered the event for hosts Culture Liverpool. The end result would see my images appear in the official book which would go on sale later that year. I worked alongside two ofter photographers and my brief was to follow a particular giant all day and get a true feel of the scale and excitement it would bring to the City. This event would provide some different challenges. The first being it would be held in October. The other two were in Spring and Summer.The weather could be very unpredictable plus the light would drop very early in the evening too. The week before the event saw high winds hit Liverpool which could again be disastrous. Saying that we were very lucky with the weather. Drizzle on the Friday would be followed by fabulous sunshine on the Saturday and a dry Sunday too. The crowds were amazing. The Saturday was incredible, you could not move in the city centre. It was the busiest I have ever seen in terms of crowd depth. The other challenge would be being able to carry all my equipment which would include two camera bodies plus two lenses. One short wide lens and a telephoto. I would also need to carry a laptop and leads too so I can upload images at intervals. This was a strain on the shoulders and back. Over the three days we would walk over 40km. On the Saturday and Sunday morning I would wake up and my neck, shoulders and lower back would be in agony from carrying the heavy bags. Having covered the Giants before I wanted to try and capture something different this time. I wanted to look for moments which would show a different side or angle. I was given the opportunity to get very close and I wanted to show that in the images I took.Yes there were times I would get told off by the French production team but after three days they relaxed more and I felt more comfortable too. This helped me grab the emotional image of the two Lilliputians crying as they hug each other towards the end of the final day. We also had to keep the secret safe that the Little Girl Giant would be making an appearance on the final day too. Walking along the Strand back towards Canning Dock on that final afternoon was memorable. In fact its surreal walking along the Strand on an empty road with thousands of spectators watching as you walk in front of the Giants. Its true you don’t notice or hear all the shouting you are so in the moment trying to capture the right image. I have chosen just some of the images I took below some are my favourites and some are just memories of a wonderful experience.

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