Who's Who: David Stewart

David Stewart began his career photographing punk bands including The Clash and The Ramones. He also took to photographing the passing parade of colourful characters on Morecambe Promenade with squirrel monkeys Joey and Queenie. This early work directly influenced his now recognisable style.

After graduating from Blackpool and The Fylde College, Stewart moved to London in 1981 where he pursued a career in photography, rapidly establishing himself as one of the UK's most highly accomplished photographers. In 1995 he directed and produced a short film "Cabbage" which was nominated for a BAFTA. Accompanying the film is a series of surrealist photographic images as a tribute to the much-maligned vegetable.

In 2001, he published a body of work titled "Fogeys" comprising of kitsch, cartoon-like photographs of people growing old disgracefully. Exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art London "Fogeys" won a Silver Award at the Art Directors Club of New York. (Fogeys Images link)

The book “Thrice Removed" was published in 2009. While still singular and mischievous, the book includes works that are more muted in colour and personal in tone.

The book “Teenage Pre-occupation” takes a look at teenagers and the changes they go through and was published in May 2013.

Stewart won The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize in 2015.

He was previously shortlisted for the Photographic Portrait Prize in 2007 and was accepted a further fourteen times between 1995 and 2012, each time exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

In 2016 Stewart was presented with The Royal Photographic Society award for outstanding achievement and excellence in the fields of Editorial, Advertising and Fashion Photography.

How you got into advertising in a sentence…

Studied Photography at college and then assisted advertising photographers

A run down of the most recent campaign I’ve worked on…

DWP State Pension, Channel 4, Virgin games, Total jobs, National Theatre, Globe Theatre.

The best piece of creative work around at the moment is…

National Theatre posters.

The next big trend in advertising is going to be…

No big agencies more direct to client.

The piece of photography I wish I had thought of is…

None.

My favourite digital tool / App at the moment…

None.