As photographer at this event I was presented with an amazing opportunity. Not only was it an event of exceptional quality in terms of the dress of some of the participants, but it was also an opportunity for me to produce some images which I had been planning for some time.

In 2009 I began to re-enact some original images from the past using my Napoloenic subjects as muse. Leaping riflemen at Hougoumont or a relaxed dragoon in Bath ... any thing goes. At Compiègne I had planned to re-produce some fashion plates, or at least photographic images in the style of some of the fashion plates of the period.

With help from various friends, sources etc I identified a certain style of what I wanted. Then with the implicit consent of the subject(s) we started to produce what I consider to be some fantastic images. You might note the poses struck by the subjects: the protruding footwear, a hand placed precisely, and the look away from the camera, all by design in an attempt to re-produce some of the style of the era.

In this portfolio you will see a gradual progression from simple portrait images, into what became a lesson in composition for all of us, as one by one the subject was enhanced with something else in the back-ground, as we added different secondary subjects to enhance what was anyway a great shot of some of the clothes worn on the day. I stumble when writing words like ‘clothes’, as to use the word is a massive understatement: they are pieces of art in their own right.

The pleasure remains in the first instance, for me. If you stand right behind me, I hope you will continue to follow me in my endeavours.