Cover Stars | Sunday Times Magazine

Cover Stars | Sunday Times Magazine

Last Weekend's Sunday Times Magazine features four distinctive front covers, all of which were photographed by me. A commission that is leading the charge as the most fun of 2023 and also an unprecedented feat for me, I've never had four different front covers on the same day!

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The Icebreakers
Documentary, Magazine, Location portraiture Gareth Iwan Jones Documentary, Magazine, Location portraiture Gareth Iwan Jones

The Icebreakers

These chaps gleefully stripped off to their trunks, did some breathing exercises and went for a meditative dip in the frozen weir. Utterly bananas, but admirable. With the strong hoar frost, I couldn't help but notice the visual similarities with the famous macaque monkeys who look so serene submerged up to their cheeks in the hot springs in the mountainous North of Japan.

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Lock & Co Hatters // Discover Britain

Lock & Co Hatters // Discover Britain

Lock & Co Hatters, No 6 St James Street in London. Established in 1676, which makes it the oldest hat shop in the world and the oldest shop in London still in existence. I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon there photographing both the shop and it's retail manager Michael Hagon.

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RNLI Sea Survival // Guardian
Documentary, Editorial, Bristol Photographer Gareth Iwan Jones Documentary, Editorial, Bristol Photographer Gareth Iwan Jones

RNLI Sea Survival // Guardian

Earlier this week I spent the day with Rachel Hall from the Guardian down at the RNLI's Sea Survival training centre in Poole. The training centre is a standard 25 meter swimming pool which can be transformed into a stormy seascape complete with wind, rain and darkness at the pressing of a few buttons. The journalists in the dinghy were being given an experience of what it is like for migrants attempting the perilous crossing of the English Channel in unseaworthy boats.

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Historic Conservation // English Heritage

Historic Conservation // English Heritage

It's rare that the most memorable part of a commission is the temperature. That's not to say that this commission at Goodrich Castle wasn't otherwise memorable, it definitely was, but this was the coldest outdoor portrait shoot I can remember in a nearly 20 year career! At points my fingers stopped responding to all brain input... David and Amanda are made of sterner stuff, they are historic conservationists whose task on this bitterly cold March day was to scale the 50 metre side walls of Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire, removing invasive vegetation and repairing damaged stone work. Covid lockdowns didn't come with many perks, but there is something very special about wandering around these historically significant sites with nobody else there. Be gone crowds.

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Wild Swimming // Royal College of Nursing

Wild Swimming // Royal College of Nursing

I am a recently converted cold water enthusiast, albeit more of the sitting in an ice filled agricultural water butt in my bathroom type of enthusiast. We're a bit landlocked here in Wiltshire. I met Olivia at the Clevedon Marine Lake not long after sunrise on a bitingly cold April morning. The water temperature, having had little chance to warm since winter, was still in single figures. Unperturbed, Olivia strode out into the glacial waters, no squeaking or squealing heard, just a calm confidence. Olivia took to cold water immersion in the depth of the pandemic to help her cope with the severe anxiety brought on by the stress of working on a stroke dependency ward during the height of Covid. Exposing yourself to very cold water has an extraordinary effect on well being. I'm not sure the research is there yet to understand the physiological responses fully, but I can attest that there is some sort of magical reaction going on. The effect on sleep alone is particularly notable, I never sleep better than when I've had a cold dunk. The rush of endorphins is intoxicating and it is curiously addictive.

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Abdul Musa Adam // Sunday Times Magazine

Abdul Musa Adam // Sunday Times Magazine

Sudanese refugee Abdul Musa Adam grew up riding the plains of Darfur, but at the age of seven his family were slaughtered by militants. Now, he has found peace working at the Hampshire stables where the Queen’s horses are trained - Park House stables in Newbury. An incredible story, to read more click here

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