Restoring A Cow Shed To Stunning Barn
It was a real treat to visit Dominic Alldis in his beautiful countryside home close to Guildford. Dominic is a jazz pianist, conductor, and business speaker. He was actually born into music - his mum was a violinist and his father was choral conductor John Alldis.
He now lives in an old family farm where one stand out feature is the huge barn which Dominic and his wife Madeline restored from an old cow shed (as he describes it) to a stunning rehearsal room. Just look at those beams!
There are more remarkable beams in the house, which dates back over 400 years. They came from old ships and seem as solid now as they were all those centuries ago. One of my favourite features in the house is the old Grundig radiogram - which still works and sounds beautiful.
Pizza On The Park - A Much Missed London Legend
I first knew of Dominic at the much missed London cabaret room, Pizza on the Park where he was resident-pianist. He's recorded a remarkable catalogue of albums (some of my jazz favourites) and now in addition to his music work. He has also cultivated an enviable career as an international business speaker and for over 20 years has worked with the world’s leading companies and business schools and speaker bureaus using the metaphor of music to explore a range of key business concerns. His company, Music & Management has a global client base and can deliver events both virtually and in-person in UK, Europe, US and Asia.
At Home - A Long-Term Book Project
This At Home series gives me access to the homes of people I admire and respect. I am deeply grateful for their trust in letting me into their private spaces to photograph them and capture a real insight into what makes them tick.
Unlike shooting weddings which can be quite hectic, these photo shoots usually give me time to get to know my subject and experiment with different locations and ideas. My background is in portraiture and street photography and I love trying to capture a person’s essence in a photograph. I am a curious person by nature and always want to know the real story, what a person is really like behind their public facade.
