British Ecological Society Summer School
Documentary, Event, Schools David Oates Documentary, Event, Schools David Oates

British Ecological Society Summer School

The British Ecological Society’s summer school is a week long residential field experience for students studying sciences at A-level, Scottish Higher and other similar qualifications. This year 31 students from 7 different schools across the UK gathered at Malham Tarn in the Yorkshire Dales. I was there as documentary photographer giving an overview of the day’s activities and providing marketing and social media material.

As ever, working for BES was extremely interesting, a personal highlight being the nature walk led by Dr. Daniel Forman, lecturer in Biosciences at Swansea University. I’d walked the same route as part of the Pennine Way last year but his fascinating insights into the ecology around us was illuminating.

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What Makes a House a Home? for Hawkins/Brown
Documentary, Architecture, Conference, Event David Oates Documentary, Architecture, Conference, Event David Oates

What Makes a House a Home? for Hawkins/Brown

Hawkins\Brown have been debating this question for over 30 years and on Thursday 18 July 2019, hosted a conference party at Glass House One, Festival Square, to celebrate another successful year for Hawkins\Brown Studio North and their continued support of and involvement in Manchester International Festival.

The house: “a machine for living in” (Le Corbusier), or a place “to dream” (Gaston Bachelard)?

The panel delved into this rich and varied topic covering everything from co-living and the concept of community, to shifts in social demographics and changing lifestyles, to DfMA, buildability and volumetric housing, to what “home” means personally to each of the panellists. Some suggestions included: “my record collection”, “acoustic insulation (three children under the age of three!),” and “the freedom to DIY”.

It was a pleasure to photograph the conference while enjoying the atmosphere of MIF and the last of the sunshine.

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British Ecological Society Conferences
Documentary, Conference, Event, Portraits David Oates Documentary, Conference, Event, Portraits David Oates

British Ecological Society Conferences

It’s always fascinating to carry out the conference photography for the British Ecological Society and often easy to forget to take pictures while listening to the presentations. Here are a selection of photographs from their and the Society for Tropical Ecology’s joint annual conference in the magnificent McEwan Hall, Edinburgh.

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New facility opening for DB Cargo
Documentary, Event David Oates Documentary, Event David Oates

New facility opening for DB Cargo

DB recently opened their new facility in Wolverhampton close to the heartland of the West Midlands motor industry. I photographed the launch, giant hangars dwarfing giant trains delivering giant rolls of steel.

I visited the West Midlands twice last year to photograph stories related to Britain’s motor industry. The new facility pictured below to deliver and house steel by Deutsche Bahn Cargo and before that on a commission for German business magazine WirtshaftsWoche to document German manufacturer Brose’s factory making seats and equipment for Jaguar Land Rover.

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