About Me

Trained in documentary photography and filmmaking I received a prize in the Guardian's David Hodge Award for young photographers in 1993. I am no longer a ‘young photographer’. However my interests still lie in social documentary work & my various projects have led to exhibitions & national press coverage, notably “Bullring” and “Littleton”. I have a wide variety of technical skills from my experience in television. This includes broadcast cameras & lighting, managing a broadcast design studio, motion-control operation, 3d model-making/animation & compositing.

As well as working in broadcast television design, in a freelance capacity I have collaborated with international artists and choreographers on large scale projections at venues such as the New York MET, Opéra de Paris, Saddler’s Wells, Durham Cathedral, Staatstheater Stuttgart and London's Royal Opera house. In 2018 I worked in Chile/Bolivia & New York over 3 months shooting video, stills and time lapses for the new ballet “Afterite”. I have worked with long-time collaborator Ravi Deepres on a variety of projects such as public film screenings in Trafalgar Square during “The Big Dance” performance (2012 Olympics games) and The Brits Awards 2016 opening sequence.

I have lectured & created workshops for a variety of clients including Birmingham City University, The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA), The University of Birmingham (School of Social Policy) and private clients.

In 2021, as well various museum photography projects I am starting work on “Atwood” with Ravi Deepres, a new Wayne McGregor ballet in Canada featuring new work by the author Margaret Atwood.

Testimonials

Sarah Hayes

Museum Manager for the Coffin Works museum, Birmingham

I have known Luke Unsworth since 2010 when I first worked with him on project managing the photography for Birmingham History Galleries at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. During that time, Luke did a range of work including object photography, film work and also documentary photography. I have since had the pleasure of working with Luke on commissioned projects for the Coffin Works Museum, as well as the Social History Curators Group (SHCG). 

Luke is quite simply a pleasure to work with. He shows great commitment to any project he embarks on, and his planning and preparation before any photoshoot or film project is second to none. He carefully thinks about the brief, and prepares accordingly so that he always proves to not only be a safe pair of hands, but a quality pair of hands too. He has a meticulous attention to detail, and always completes projects on time and within budget, which is another reason I value working with him.

His work is exemplary and one particular quality that has always stood out for me with Luke, is that he really engages with his subject matter. With Luke, you get quality photography and someone who is genuinely passionate about his craft and the objects he is working with. 

Luke is the ‘go to’ person when it comes to photography and film work. In addition, he enjoys sharing his knowledge and skills; I have undertaken video production training with him and found him to be an excellent teacher and multi-faceted in all he does. I can’t recommend Luke highly enough. 

You can see some of the work Luke has done for us here, including object photography and film work for the Coffin Works Archive: 

http://www.archive.coffinworks.org

http://www.archive.coffinworks.org/media

http://www.archive.coffinworks.org/objects/travelling-salesman-bag

Linda Ellis

Project Manager Digital Heritage Services

Luke is an excellent photographer and has done some outstanding work photographing our museum objects and works of art. He is always extremely well organised and can be relied upon to deliver a great service. All the staff that Luke has worked with across the museums in the Black Country have been impressed by his professionalism.

Clients have included:

American Ballet Theatre

Studio Wayne McGregor

Opéra de Paris

The Paul Mellon Centre (Yale university)

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Central Television

Carlton Television

ITV Television

Birmingham City Council

The Random Dance company

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Art UK/ The Public Catalogue Foundation

Birmingham City University

The Halcyon Gallery

Hammerson PLC

Second Home Studios