Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Bloomberg BusinessWeek – Robin Li Baidu CEO Profile
November 16th, 2010Out on newsstands this week you can check out this profile piece on Robin Li, the billionaire CEO of Baidu. Baidu is the reigning king of search in China and my images accompany Brad Stone & Bruce Einhorn’s story here:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_47/b4204060242597.htm
You can also download the PDF of the whole story here: Robin Li – Baidu – PDF
Baidu CEO Robin Li photographed by Andrew Rowat at Baidu World in Beijing, China.
Wall Street Journal Travel – Shanghai Insider
November 16th, 2010The Oct 23/24 2010 edition of the Wall Street Journal features some of my Shanghai images in the ‘Insider’s Guide’ written by friend and talented writer Andrew Yang. You can check it outline here: http://on.wsj.com/byL41d or see the full print layout as a PDF here: Wall Street Journal – Shanghai Insider PDF
Shanghai's Bund waterfront photographed by Andrew Rowat
Service Service Service v2 – Four Seasons Thailand
November 15th, 2010I was recently at the sublime Four Seasons Tented resort in Northern Thailand and it reminded me of the first time I had ventured there for work a few years ago (this most recent time I was there off the clock).
http://andrewrowat.com/design/design02-2.html#1953,39
At the time the resort had just opened and I was shooting for Travel + Leisure’s hotel issue. In fact one of the images ended up being used as the cover.
If you have ever stayed at a Four Seasons you know that in response to any request they will always say “Certainly.”
“I would like a unicorn to deliver my low-fat extra-hot latte with the morning paper. And if you could arrange for a full moon that would be terrific.”
“Certainly.”
So on this particular shoot one of my light meters (I always carry two – redundancy!) decided that it was no longer interested in performing its core function. So I had a very dead light meter on my hands.
I popped the light meter open (this one had already gone for a swim in Australia once upon a time and been revived with a de-ionized water bath at a marine research station on Heron Island) to see if I could see anything that was obviously broken.
And lo and behold it looked like some solder points had cracked. Given that we weren’t exactly in downtown New York (the tented resort is located in the Golden Triangle on the border of Burma and Laos near Chiang Rai) I wrote it off for the rest of the shoot.
Four Seasons engineering staff weren’t having any of it. They absconded with my light meter and I went back to shooting. But not for long.
Soon enough my light meter returned, working perfectly fine, with all the contact points flawlessly re-soldered. Amazing.
“Can I have my light meter fixed and re-soldered along with that latte?”
“Certainly.”
Travel + Leisure Cover - Four Seasons Tented Resort Golden Triangle - Photographed by Andrew Rowat
Service Service Service – Think Tank Photo Will Keep Getting My Business
November 15th, 2010I use my gear in a fairly abusive manner. Whether it is shooting in -50C in Mongolia while riding reindeer, or hauling bags through blistering heat and desert dust I need to know that my equipment won’t fail.
Invariably however, after repeated beatings things do start to wear down, fall apart, or develop their own special quirks.
I have travelled all over the world with my Think Tank Airport Security v 2.0 (http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-security-v2-roller-camera-bag.aspx) and the wheels finally decided that they had had enough with the relationship. Rolling the bag had become decidedly less smooth, even when I wasn’t piloting it over rocks and cobblestone streets.
So what to do? I was on the road in China and though the bag was still serviceable it was definitely a pain.
One email. That’s all it took.
That one email led to a new set of wheels being shipped to China for me to replace in the field.
Cost to me? Zero.
Result? A very happy customer who will continue to buy their products because of the service.
In spite of my earlier statement about needing to know that my equipment won’t fail I know that equipment does fail. And when it does you want a company that stands behind their work and will sort you out.
Service. Service. Service.
Think Tank Photo Airport Security v2.0 Rolling Bag
Parli Italiano? Case de Abitare shoot in Singapore
October 1st, 2010In August I had the good fortune of trundling off to Singapore to shoot for one of Italy’s premier design magazines – Case De Abitare. Every so often they run a feature entitled ‘Grand Tour’ where they tackle a city from a travel & design point of view. So armed with a shoot list, camera, and contacts I set off to capture my interpretation of the city.
The issue hit stands today (Oct 1), but you can take a peek here with the PDF: Case de Abitare Singapore Grand Tour
UBC Trek Profile – My Alma Mater
August 22nd, 2010Recently I was contacted by my Alma Mater, the University of British Colombia (UBC) about being featured in their magazine, Trek, for the Summer 2010 issue. And so I was. You can take a look at the PDF here: Andrew Rowat Trek Summer 2010 Profile
Or go online to the UBC website itself: http://www.alumni.ubc.ca/trekmagazine/27-summer2010/rowat.php
Istanbul Portrait
June 22nd, 2010In the Fall I travelled to Istanbul to photograph the Dream Team for that city – a collection of four of Turkey’s foremost taste makers.
We decided to shoot them at İzzet Çapa’s (one of the four) club, Joke Perestroyka. Joining İzzet, were Mihda Koray (gallerist), Sefer Çağlar (interior & product designer with Autoban), and Müge Ersin (fashion designer).
They all knew each other, so it made my life very easy — getting them to have fun and interact was a cinch.
We shot in three different locations in the club, but having a great editor (this was for Conde Nast Traveler) meant that this particular frame was the keeper.
A good editor always makes your work look better. Thank goodness for that.
You can take a look at the end result here: Conde Nast Traveler – Word of Mouth – May 2010 – Istanbul Dream Team
All Shanghai All the Time! Ritz-Carlton Photo Essay
June 22nd, 2010Continuing the theme of my last couple posts I will inundate you more Shanghai. I know you can’t get enough. It is an Expo year after all.
Expo you say? Like Expo ’86 in Vancouver? Yes, that Expo.
In any case, without further ado, I give you a collection of Shanghai images that the folks chez Ritz-Carlton published in their ultra-swish magazine.
Voila: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Shanghai/Highlights/nightandday.htm
Conde Nast Traveler – Shanghai Feature – Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Street Food
June 22nd, 2010The July 2010 issue of Conde Nast Traveler has just hit newstands and you can see my ugly mug staring out at you from page 10 of the profiles at the beginning of the magazine. I shot a small feature for them that focused on Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s favourite street-food in Shanghai.
Now you ask, why does Jean-Georges have favourite street food vendors in Shanghai?!
Well, it is because he also has a flagship restaurant, Jean-Georges, located in the 3 on the Bund complex in Shanghai itself. Headlined for many years by Executive Chef Eric Johnson, it is now helmed by the very talented, and always relaxed, Ming Kin Lam.
If in Shanghai go and have a bite (or three). And don’t bother ordering anything off the menu – just have Kin put together an incredible tasting menu for you. Delicious.
Oh, and the street food?
Head to Sipailou Lu, near Yu Gardens and have a delicious pancake. Yum.
Now go pick up a copy at the newstand, or you can also check it out here: rowat_cnus_201007_eat-the-street
Conde Nast Traveler – ShangKong Feature
June 3rd, 2010I was fortunate enough to have a terrific feature in the March 2010 issue of Conde Nast Traveler. The Feature was entitled ‘ShangKong’ and focused on the two amazing Asian cities - Shanghai and Hong Kong. The former, Shanghai was my home for almost 8 years, though I now split my time between there and New York. You can take a peek at the low-res PDF here: rowat_cnus_201003_shangkong web
(PS – if this was in March why am I posting in June you ask? Well the blog and site are just getting up and re-launched, so you might be subjected to some archived material as we move forward. And current shoots too. Don’t worry.)