Back to Work: Oliver Edwards for English Heritage

BY 19 January 2023

Everybody loves a well-told story, for they are the best way to evoke emotion. The importance of visual storytelling in photography is thus undeniable. Bristol, UK-based photographer Oliver Edwards is one of the industry’s great storytellers who builds strong narratives that give deep insight into each story. With a background in visual documentaries, he is especially passionate about showcasing eccentric rural cultures.

For a recent assignment, Oliver was commissioned to take striking images for English Heritage, a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings, and places in England — bringing to life the stories and history of the country to over 10 million visitors each year.

I have worked with English Heritage for many years through a publishing company called Ourmedia. Commissions are consistent throughout the year, and I regularly have work published in their member’s magazine.

Back to the office English Heritage campaign shot by Oliver Edwards

Oliver is an adaptable photographer, having shot in various styles for the magazine over the years, so the art director knew he could collaborate on making the images eye-catching while keeping their concept prominent. The assignment was to create images for an online campaign to entice visitors to visit English Heritage sites after COVID lockdown restrictions were lifted.

The brief had two categories. We needed to capture various banner group photos inspired by Hollywood superhero films and TV artwork with a slightly humorous twist, given how varied and slightly obscure their roles are. The Jester on his small bicycle juxtaposed with the Jouster and horse helped add humor to our Motley crew of heroes. The second part of the brief was to capture the reenactors individually in their full historical dress in everyday modern scenarios as if they were doing their commute back to work. These were also intended to be humorous, as you don’t often see a knight in full armor drinking a cup of tea at a local cafe.

Knight drinking tea at a coffee shop office shot by Oliver Edwards

The concepts were very well thought out, and a great detailed brief was sent with clear ambitions. I suggested bringing along some slightly more powerful lighting and an assistant. This gave the option to champion the reenactors better.

Commuting is a mundane part of life so many of us can relate to. To see one of the more eccentric professions in the form of historical reenactors do this everyday task is a unique juxtaposition that adds comedic value to the campaign. The result is unforgettable imagery, which delightfully marks the return of English Heritage sites to the populace.

Reenactors loading shield on his car shot by Oliver Edwards

Reenactors with e-scooter shot by Oliver Edwards

The shoot took place at Kenilworth Castle, in the midlands between Coventry, Warwick, and Birmingham. The castle’s Medieval and Renaissance architecture pays witness to its critical role as a fortress, palace, theatrical setting, and inspiration to people of the Romantic era. The spectacular ruins, built mostly from the local red sandstone, divulge the castle’s long history as a royal residence, the perfect setting to celebrate English heritage.

Onsite parking was available, which made access to our equipment straightforward, and my assistant and I stayed in a local hotel. The dates were locked because of the logistics and costs of hiring all the reenactors, and a video was being shot simultaneously. We had a mixture of sun and cloudy weather. Cloudy/stormy weather would have been perfect to match the brief, but unfortunately, we had a lot of sun, so we had to seize on any patches of cloud that we could throughout the 2-day shoot.

Reenactor jouster in armour with lunchbox on horse shot by Oliver Edwards

On set, proceedings were very busy with five reenactors, a large black horse, a horse owner/handler, an English Heritage staff member, two art directors from the publishing company (one for each day), two video crew members, and Oliver and his assistant all present. Fortunately for Oliver, the group was all very professional (including the horse!), arriving with a lot of experience in filming and photoshoots, so a productive and efficacious shoot transpired.

The energy was great on set. Having worked with the reenactors before was a great help to this as they all knew each other well, so they were able to be themselves and have fun/joke around with each other, and most importantly, so they could relax and be themselves for the shoot.

Reenactors avenger pose shot by Oliver Edwards

The reenactor’s costumes were very heavy, so Oliver ingeniously decided to use his assistant as a stand-in while getting the lighting ratios for each background, then bring in the reenactors at the last moment to limit their time wearing the weighty armor.

As soon as we thought we had a final shot or were reviewing the images, we would put down the armor and take a break. The weather was sunnier than I would have liked, as we are on location without mains power. Working with the huge armored horse was also a challenge, as it was slightly intimidating at times. Luckily, it was a professional Film and TV Horse and had a very well-trained owner/handler.