Portraiture.

Malik Vs. Malik.

Art Direction | Styling | Post Production

A portrait of Sadaat Malik: art director extraordinaire. Sadaat's character is so vibrant that there's simply no need to camouflage it amongst additional colour.

Traditionally within the creative industries it is commonplace for art directors to work as pairs. The narrative function of Sadaat frolicking with himself is to demonstrate his rare ability to work creatively alone and in the most baron and unispiring environments.

Sadaat's fun factory lies beneath his noble brow.
Commercial.

Piano.

Art Direction | Post Production

Originally, a simpler incarnation of, 'Piano' was commissioned by 'Christian Silva' as promotional artwork for the acclaimed 'The Location Of Christian Silva' EP.
Personal.

Rabbit.

Art Direction | Post Production

Shot in Golden Acre Park, Leeds, this hallucinogenic work depicts a musical rabbit nestled beneath a bird watcher's hide.
Set Design.

House.

Art Direction | Post Production

Conceived over a pot of fresh mint tea, 'House', despite looking like a scale model, stood at an impressive eight feet tall and required four strong volunteers to manoeuvre onto a tretcherous demolition site ahead of the shoot.
Commercial.

Vib Gyor.

Art Direction | Post Production

Shot at the site of the papal monument, Heaton Park, Manchester, 'Vib Gyor' was a speculative piece designed for the band of the same name. The work depicts the band as school children worshipping their God, Music.
Personal.

Clown.

Art Direction | Post Production

Shooting 'Clown' was an example of suffering for your art. The ordeal entailed the procurement of four freshly severed pig heads that were, at a later stage, punctured with an old-fashioned hand drill, before finally being hung in place with industrial fastenings. 'Clown' explores the relationship between that which we suround our children with and their subsequent nightmares.
Portraiture.

Samantha #1.

Art Direction | Styling | Post Production

Shot for it's subject as a means of introduction to the world of fashion modelling, the resultant image formed part of a fledgling portfolio.
Portraiture.

Envy.

Art Direction | Post Production | Lighting + Photography |

'Envy' explores the notion that jealousy is a state of mind and it's resultant power to skew the perception of the inflicted. The colour green features as an unambiguous metaphor, a representation of the cliché: "Green with envy".
Commercial.
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The Yeah You's.

Set Design | Post Production

'The Yeah You's' debut album artwork, designed in conjunction with Studio Fury, explores notions of 'Fame' and 'Anonymity'.
Personal.

Builders #1.

Art Direction | Post Production

A heavily art directed installation set beneath an unassuming, suburban, semi-detached dwelling. The antiquated medical teaching aids were lovingly seatbelted into a sensible VW Golf and chauffeured to the shoot through rush hour traffic. A voyeuristic spectacle!
Commercial.

Scaramanga Six.

Art Direction | Post Production

Steven Morricone, one half of the infamous Morricone twins, is a man of a thousand, predominantly evil, faces. Often likened to 'Ming The Merciless' and countless other baddies, Steve performs as a conerstone of: 'The Scaramanga Six'.
Personal.

Duck and Plumber.

Art Direction | Post Production

Take a bath; throw in a photographer with grubby feet, a barrowful of topsoil, top with 'Dwarf Rye Grass' and garnish with an iconic rubber ducky. Bizarre delusion: done.
Commercial.

The Yeah You's.

Art Direction | Post Production

Shot on the mean streets of Primrose Hill, London, this image forms part of the official 'Yeah You's' press pack and has been published in prestigious music journals such as: 'Music Week' and 'NME', who described the duo as a 'Wry two-man pop powerhouse'.
Set Design.

Fightstar.

Art Direction | Set Fabrication

A purgatorial waiting room designed for the 'Fightstar' music video: ' The English Way'. The hugely successful promo shot to the top of the 'MySpace Chart'and marked the begining of a recent surge in popularity for the band.
Commercial.

Gideon Conn.

Art Direction | Styling | Post Production |

Sponsored by 'Yes No Maybe' clothing, Gideon Conn is a musician, artist and raconteur. Aside from his flashes of eccentric performance, Gideon is famed for his animated face; black rimmed glasses, signature grey t-shirt and 'Yes No Maybe' baseball cap.

Click to see Gideon on YouTube!

Commercial.

The Yeah You's.

Art Direction | Post Production

Shot in conjunction with design house 'Studio Fury', this vivid and iconic piece once again explores notions of 'Fame' and 'Anonymity'. The work was tailored to complement the artwork for the enormously popular '15 Minutes' single.
Personal.

Builders #2.

Art Direction | Post Production

Another heavily art directed installation from the' Builders' series. 'Builders #2' responds to the popular myth that tradesmen, unscrupuluosly, prolong even the slightest of tasks in order to sap extra money from those lacking in DIY savvy.
Portraiture.

Self Portrait June '09.

Art Direction | Photography | Styling | Post Production

Self styled and lit with high key, brutally honest studio flash. Vintage fitted shirt by 'Dolce and Gabanna', knitted tie by 'Thomas Pink', vintage bowler hat circa 1950 (maker unknown).
Portraiture.

Sadaat.

Art Direction | Styling | Post Production

A second portrait of Sadaat Malik: art director extraordinaire. In this piece Sadaat can be seen gazing into infinity whilst glutching ribbon that, along with some familiar shadows, suggests the presence of balloons. The portrait is set against a backdrop of a Hispanic-villa-like wall that appears to be gently bleeding multicoloured paint. Throughout this experience Sadaat wore opaque spectacles - thus his expression of wonderment is solely fuelled by a creative imagination.

www.sadaatmalik.com

Personal.

Adam Bomb.

Art Direction | Photography | Post Production |

Delicately flash lit macro photography featuring the very rare 'Adam Bomb' action figure by Hasbro.
Commercial.

The Yeah You's.

Art Direction | Post Production

A beautiful example of line, understated colour and sympathetic composition. Again, shot on the mean streets of Primrose Hill, London, this image forms part of the official 'Yeah You's' press pack.
Commercial.

The Yeah You's.

Art Direction | Post Production

Artwork for the hugely successful debut single'15 Minutes' by 'The Yeah You's'. '15 Minutes' stormed the playlists of both BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2.
Commercial.

Yes No Maybe.

Art Direction | Stlyling | Post Production |

A simple depiction of musician Gideon Conn sporting a 'Yes No Maybe' hoody and baseball cap combination.
Personal.

Builders #3.

Art Direction | Post Production

The third work in the 'Builders' series, 'Builders #3' when compared to '#2' and '#3'shows is a more complicated composition with advanced flash lighting.
Portraiture.

Kristian Neal.

Art Direction | Styling | Photography | Post Production

A gritty black and white digital photograph depicting the finely tuned body of Kristian Neal, the purpose of which was to promote Kristian as a candidate for the highly prized 'Men's Health Magazine' front cover.
Set Design.

Fightstar.

Art Direction | Post Production | Set Build | Props |

Shot as a memento of 'The English Way' video shoot, the shed and white chair combination occurred to me whilst showering one morning. During the video, lead vocalist, Charlie Simpson peers into the shed where he is met by a host of Latin singing floating mouths.
Personal

Tears of Scare.

Art Direction | Post Production | Photography | Styling |

An experimental work that juxtaposes the dynamic paradigms of dark and light. Even though the set up is predominantly made from poster paint, silly string and colourful plastic, the gas mask prop dominates the mise-en-scene to the extent that the overall tone is sombre.
Personal

Gemma.

Art Direction | Post Production

Taken from the 'Bizarre Delusions' series, 'Gemma' is a look through the eyes of a necrophiliac mortician. In actuality, the deeply objectified female figure bares a toe tag that declares her age to be that of a pensioner and her cause of death as a car crash.
Commercial.

The Machine.

Art Direction | Post Production | Photography |

Designed and produced for 'Wabbo Ltd.' as part of a major rebranding. 'The Machine' is made almost entirely from recycled materials and painted using 'Ocaldo' ready mixed poster colour. It's recyled components include, bottle caps, mannequin hands and wool reels.
Commercial.

The Yeah You's.

Art Direction | Post Production

Inspired by classic British comedy double acts of days gone by including The Two Ronnies, Morcambe + Wise and Dudley Moore + Peter Cook. The 1970s carpeted, game show come chat show set proved to be an inspirational stage for this highly animated pop powerhouse.
Personal.

Kelly #1.

Art Direction | Styling | Photography

Soap bubbles, modelling balloons, no-frills toothbrushes, aluminium foil and pair of novelty specs that wouldn't be out of place on Kanye West... just the ticket for a weird and wonderfully unique Paul Mansley portrait. Lit with sympathetically soft studio flash to minimise retouching, the portrait was designed to encapsulated Kelly's adoration for all things fairytale.
Portraiture.

Amigos.

Art Direction | Photography | Post Production |

Coming Soon!
Portraiture.

Mark Galley.

Art Direction | Photography | Post Production

Unique and compelling, this fantastical portrait utilises redundant radiotherapy equipment, household spray paint and plastic beads to wonderous effect. Lit with high key flash photography to augment Mark's excellent skin and dark features.
Personal

Kelly #2.

Art Direction | Photography | Post Production |

Blasted with clinical light, this contemporary fashion shot casts powerful shadows on the brightly coloured background to the benefit of the overall composition. The surreal subject matter is in stark contrast to the brutally honest lighting.
Commercial.

Kelly #3.

Art Direction | Photography | Post Production |

The final image of the experimental 'Kelly' series relies on defused light and symmetrical composition to set it apart from its predecessors. The three images are an interesting showcase of three highly contrasting lighting styles - made more dramatic by the almost identical subject matter.
Commercial.

Gun for Hire.

Commission your own, bespoke, Paul Mansley

Paul Mansley: Art director, budget protector, production designer, set builder, lily gilder, prop maker, photo taker, GSOH, non-smoker, plays games - all sorts.

Email - hello@paulmansley.com