INTERVIEW

We discover how this conceptual photographer transformed the thought process behind complex engineering into stunning visions

Paintbox TV graphics system Winner 1988 The first technology of its kind, Paintbox was designed to make computer graphics for television

All images © Ted Humble-Smith

Conceptual photographer Ted Humble-Smith’s work brings his deep relationship with nature into the built studio environment. And while he focuses predominantly on high-resolution stills, his final images are anything but static.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the MacRobert Award – the UK’s longestrunning and most prestigious prize for engineering innovation – Ted was commissioned by the Royal Academy of Engineering to create a series of images for an exhibition at the National Science and Media Museum in London.

For this major project, he had to work with the engineers who developed the concepts behind ten former MacRobert Award winners, and produce images that captured a sense of the original thought process that enabled each milestone engineering innovation.

Ted’s series of celebratory images are currently being exhibited online at www.scienceandmediamuseum.org. uk. We wanted to find out exactly how he went about making sense of some very complex engineering ideas, then converting them into wondrous pieces of visual imagery.