Hinckley Photographed

Rebranding Hinckley Photographed

July 23, 2020 in Jigsaw Puzzles, Hinckley Calendar

Hinckley Photographed - Rebranded

A big old project of mine, Hinckley Photographed has been rebranded to allow for better creativity and more inclusivity.

Since 2012, I’ve been creating work for a personal documentary of people and place in and around Hinckley in Leicestershire. Initially this was set up so I could simply share my work online. I needed a place to exhibit the work I was producing, while I was studying photography and video at NWHC and De Montfort University.
I began by making photographs of the geographical location, looking at the urban environment and the way in which the local community used the spaces and buildings. I also focused on the people that live here in a wider idea to create a permanent place for the community to relate to people they may know and also for a record of the truth of life.

The Concordia Theatre, Light It Red, July 2020

Hinckley Photographed was where it all started and as time went on I changed the name to Hinckley & Bosworth Photographed because I wanted to include the wider area and felt that I was too restricted with Hinckley. However, I soon felt that with Bosworth it was too much alike the Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council and often was miscredited.
I needed to distance myself from the council, so I reverted back to Hinckley Photographed, which now felt wrong when I posted something from outside of those Hinckley parameters. I now actually live in Burbage and often produce nice work from around the village but it felt wrong sharing it on Hinckley Photographed.
So I changed the name to Hinckley & Burbage Photographed for very good reasons.

St. Catherine’s Church, Burbage, Leicestershire.

Until last year Hinckley Photographed was just a way for me to share my photographs from the project. I joined a scheme that is specifically for photographers that is restricted to one photographer per area and I produced the very first calendar that Hinckley has ever seen. I put together some great photographs from my collection and began to sell them to the community. It was strange for me because I never intended to make money from this project. Since creating the calendars and realising that I have an audience that wants to buy my work, it gave me the boost I needed to dive right in and create more products.
Now I’m producing 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzles from the best photographs and they’ve been incredibly popular, especially during lockdown.

I’ve just received my latest batch of new jigsaw puzzles, which include The Marina, Ripples of Nature and Billa Barra Hill.

The Marina Jigsaw Puzzle, Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Ripples of Nature, Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Jigsaw Puzzle Collection

There’s no prescription for the way I work with this project and each day is a new day for me.

If you’d like to view the work for Hinckley & Burbage Photographed, there’s a place on my website with selected mini projects here or on the Facebook page.

All in all, I’m just a photographer that enjoys making artwork.
I’m just an artist with a family at home and I hope you continue to enjoy my work.
As you should know already, that I’m easily accessible via the Facebook page or by email to paul@paulhands.co.uk

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Fine Art Photographic 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzles

June 22, 2020 in Jigsaw Puzzles, Art Products

Making Photographic Jigsaw Puzzles.

I now have a new art product on the shelves that is incredibly popular, 1,000 piece Photo Jigsaw Puzzles.

Since lockdown began, I’d lost all of the work I had booked in. A 4 x commercial film deal collapsed in the first week, I lost several commercial photoshoots, one at a laser tag event and all of the weddings for my wedding photography and filmmaking business, rescheduled, leaving me penniless, jobless and with just a creative mind left wandering.

I got creative with a personal lockdown project but also did a bit of housekeeping…

…So I spent some of my free time looking back and tidying up my archives, when my calendar supplier introduced jigsaw puzzles as a new product line. I tested the waters with a few of my archived photographs and they literally flew off the shelves and I’ve been left with almost zero stock from the first order.
This was so exciting, so I went back out with my camera, thinking differently this time and I searched for scenes that could be used as a jigsaw puzzle. I even changed the way I frame a photograph, so that particular elements were placed in specific places in the frame and there was just the right amount of sky to not make the puzzle too difficult.

This was a revelation!

There are 7 puzzles in my collection now, these are the photographs, you can use the link below to learn more and to buy jigsaw puzzles.

Making a photograph for a jigsaw puzzle isn’t straight forwards and you can’t just turn any photograph into a puzzle. There has to be the right elements, not too much sky, not too much detail and the exposure needs to be perfect. Hi res images are what’s really needed and you’d certainly struggle to produce good enough quality with a mobile phone. Not that you’d want to offer an art product made as a snapshot on your phone.

So I’ve taken great care over these photographs and have designed them to offer just the right amount of interest and challenge in different parts of the puzzle. They’re all made with a very high resolution camera so you don’t lose any detail when trying to piece together the puzzle.

Since 2012, I’ve been making photographs around my local area with all the techniques I’ve learned through my photographic education (still happening) and taken great care to produce the best quality photographic jigsaw puzzles, which is completely unique for Leicestershire.

You can click on the link below to get more information about the puzzles and to buy.

Link to the jigsaw Puzzle's / online shop.

Contact me.

Locked Down - Global Coronavirus Pandemic

June 03, 2020 in Locked Down, Photographic Products

Locked Down Coronavirus Window Portrait Project

The sub-project that has had me cycling all around Hinckley, Burbage and Earl Shilton is coming towards a closing point and the production of a Lockdown book begins now.

There are 36 stories accompanied with a portrait of the people on the other side of the glass and each story tells us how the families involved have survived and what they thought about the lockdown. The production of a book is about to commence in order to organise and contain these time capsules to secure them for our future generations to look back and discover more precisely about this monumental moment in history.

My intentions for the book are to show a sweeping snapshot of our experiences with urban landscapes of how the virus impacted our social cohesion along with the portraits and stories of the local residents that have taken part in this project.
I have no idea how long the production of this book will take, I’m organising the content now and then we move in to the prototype stage for editing.

I’ve been asked by some of the participants to produce some products with your photographs, like jigsaw puzzles, mugs, keyrings and prints etc.
So I’ve sourced a good local supplier and can now offer a small range of memorabilia and organised a point of sale on my website.

Whilst there was never any intention to earn any money from this project, I did lose all of my work that was booked in and I fell through the cracks of financial support from the Government, meaning, I’m not earning a single penny during lockdown and have no idea when I can start earning again. So I hope you don’t mind me offering these ideas?

Using your portrait photograph, you can now order the following memorabilia products:

If you have any questions about these products, then please get in touch with me asap

Contact Me

Business Calendars 2020

October 17, 2019 in Hinckley Calendar, Landscape Photography

Give your customers a calendar for 2020.

They’ll see how much you care about your customers, be reminded of your company every time they look at, use or turn the page.

They’ll also feel how much you care about your local community.

Click the photograph to go to my online shop and buy a calendar.

The calendar comes with 12 high quality professional landscape photographs of rural and urban places around Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Hinckley Photographed is a project that I created in 2012 and have built an archive, which I’ve curated some of my favourite pictures from the past 8 years to be used in the first ever calendar for Hinckley.

Printed on 250gsm paper, these calendars have an artistic quality about them that feels expensive.

The days are spaced nicely apart so there’s enough space to write comfortably.

A true work of art.

Click the photograph to go to the online shop and buy a calendar.

What’s the deal?

I will produce a specific photograph to go on the cover and one that relates to your business. Perhaps one of your business or in your premises and there’s also the possibility of another stunning local landscape but with your business name and logo on the front.

On each page, there’ll be your logo and company details so that each month, your customer is reminded of your company.

Calendars are £10 each with a minimum order of 25.

Orders take up to 3 weeks to design, proof and print.

So let’s get talking about this now!

The calendar is available to buy in the current Hinckley Photographed form online in smaller quantities but not personalised to your business. Click on any of the photographs in this blog to go to the online shop.

We’ll need to discuss the artwork for your calendar so contact me asap.

Get in touch with enquiries about producing a personalised calendar for your business.

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