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“Professional photographers have the task of telling a story in a single image.  Successful images can capture the essence of a technology by creative interpretation of ordinary machines to make extraordinary images.” – Neil Warner

Last month, Neil Warner was presented with a Leadership Medal for his dedication to photography at the International Photography Council, a division of the United Nations in New York. He spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about being only the third European photographer to receive this prestigious honour. The Galway-based photographer is known for using innovative techniques to capture his award-winning shots.

As a corporate photographer, Neil has travelled the world taking images and is commissioned by a variety of clients to document their business or service in a creative light. Often some of Neil’s most striking photographs have been those taken closer to home in Ireland. One unusual challenge, he greatly enjoyed, was photographing a sewage treatment centre in Portlaoise.

Here, Neil chooses six photographs and shares the story behind creating each image.

“Innovation and new technologies come in all shapes and sizes. Many technologies that touch your life are never seen by you and yet provide a vital service to you and your family. This image was shot inside the Portlaoise sewage treatment centre which is situated on the outskirts of the town.”

“I was commissioned to produce a series of images to show the engineering technology that forms a vital backbone to the sewage treatment facility. Creative lighting has been used to isolate the pipe work from the background and the technician in the background is used successfully to give scale to the project.” 

“Reminiscent of the technique used in Schindler's list, I put a red object in the technicians hand to guide your eye through the photograph and give direction to the composition of the image. So next time you flush the toilet be aware that innovative technologies are in use on your behalf.”

“For a moderate life to exist, we need electricity. Somewhere in the heart of Dublin there is a highly secure room that controls all of the electricity in Ireland. Minute by minute, day by day, technicians match supply and demand so that we can have power to live our lives at the flick of a switch.”

“It's not often you can buy a prize-winning image for €0.55. This image was used by An Post as a postage stamp as part of their anniversary celebrations and tens of thousands of stamps were printed.

“Your letter may have crossed Ireland in the mailbag on its way to the central mail centre in Dublin. Before its address could be automatically read by the high-speed address readers, your letter had to be separated from the other mail in the mailbag. To do this your letter finds itself in a revolving aluminium drum. This letter spins around and free falls to the conveyor that brings it to the address reader. This drum is flat, grey in colour and needed a little help. 

“By using creative lighting, I added impact to the image and by using multiple exposures it allowed me to capture the envelopes in mid-air.”

“It sounds like science fiction, but it's true. Robots are in use in the operating theatre.  The Galway Clinic has led innovation in the field of robotic surgery. Here, surgeons use the latest in innovative technologies to manipulate robotic arms during key-hole surgery. This technology is principally used in prostate surgery and is minimally invasive thanks to this wonderful Leonardo device. 

“The surgeon generally sits in a darkened cubicle concentrating on a stereoscopic image that, if you add 3-D representation, enables him to see the patient’s organs. To create this image I used a little licence. In a scene reminiscent of Minority Report, I first photographed an image on the screen from the previous operation. I then asked the surgeon to develop a stance which gives the impression that he was looking at the image. 

“Using photo shop I then placed a semi-transparent image in front of the surgeon and made it appear to float in the air. Although the image is not an accurate depiction of what actually happens, it gives a greater understanding to the process and to the technologies involved in this life-saving operation. This image won the award for “best press image of the year” at the Irish national photographic awards.”

“A corporate photographer, like a film director has to have great vision and be able to share his vision with the actors within the scene. This image was commissioned by the Galway clinic prior to the final deep clean of a new cardiac operating theatre. None of the actors in this image is a doctor or a surgeon, rather they are clerical staff assisted by real nurses. Once we established the lighting plan, we had to give detailed instructions to each of the characters as to how we wanted them posed and be situated. The resulting image gives a true feeling of the urgency, skill and technology involved in open-heart surgery.”

“This image was created as part of the marketing lead-up to the opening of the Cork medical centre at Mahon, in Cork. Long before medical staff had been recruited I had been commissioned to create a suite of marketing support images for the promotion of the hospital. The only staff available were the secretaries, the accountant and a store-man. I guided them through a scenario asking them to act like nurses and surgeons.  To add drama to the image, I added a zoom effect during the photography and by careful lighting and posing gave the impression that vital life-saving surgery was in progress.”

Neil Warner, fbipp, fmpa, fippaCr, Master QEP

For a lot of his techniques Neil looks to America for inspiration and to Europe for his background. Being a photographer was something he ‘always wanted’ to do and he started out by running his school camera club at a profit. From the age of 13 photographs were used in newspapers but it wasn’t until Neil finished studying marketing that he found his true vocation as a corporate photographer. 

Official site for Neil Warner: Warnercorporatephotography.com

LISTEN: Neil Warner’s interview on Newstalk Breakfast

This article originally appeared in Newstalk Magazine for iPad in July, for more details go here