Photography is like flour. Did we just say that?
We've been blessed to use photography and film to get us into all sorts of fun adventures. Along the way we’ve experienced some pretty cool stuff and met a load of special people from diverse backgrounds. But our photography path has been much greater than taking pictures and being published. Oh, we don't NOT like seeing our name to our work in print but photography is more than that.
Photography is to communication what flour is to a baker - a major ingredient which is the base for producing so many other things. We
would argue that photography is one stepping stone along a path of discovery to a variety of exciting study and career opportunities.
Tap "View All" to see additional projects we've had the pleasure to be involved with.
Growing Your Vision.
While we cover the fundamentals our specialty is motivating students to observe, think and make using photography or film.
Our unique supportive approach has inspired many students who find self-expression a challenge.
Research
Our qualitative research tool kit uses art and media-based methods, allowing companies, schools and governments to move beyond the big data hoopla and get a more intimate, on the ground perspective for their r + d.
Photography
Photography is our DNA. From here all our other practices follow suit. We have been generalists all our professional lives and enjoy having one genre or industry experience feed into another. It keeps us on our toes and is an antidote to career complacency. It keeps us fresh.
Education
If photography is our DNA, education is our modus operandi. We serve a variety of educational needs, from post-graduate level presentations to workshops with victims of violence. Our syllabus covers the practicals of cameras and photography but we’re pretty clued in on post-production software, presentation, studio lighting, workshop research, development and programming too.
We get a real buzz about doing what we do. Seriously. We want you to have the best money can buy. It’s why we get up in the morning. Or when you call we’ll probably laugh a few times and have a talk about your dog or cat. For our students it’s why we still get excited when you have your ‘aha’ moments, and for our commissions we love seeing you pleased you put your faith in us. Sure there is the business changing hand, but there are also relationships at stake – and it’s important for us to honour both. Since 2009 when we opened our doors we knew we were offering something special. Not just another business but a chance to share in a philosophy of how we think businesses can be run. A chance to change what is expected of service. Fast-forward to today and we continue to strive for this, building our strength in the marketplace one successful client at a time. We look forward to meeting you.
Head Mangoes
Julia Massey Stewart
Partner | Managing Director | Teens Creative Director
- Magistra in Film, Theatre and Media Studies and Languages (MA equivalent), University of Vienna; FRGS – Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, FLS – Fellow of the Linnean Society
- Currently studying approx. one year self-paced Soil Health and Compost science practical incl. microscopy skills with the Soil Food Web school.
Julia’s fascination in nature started at a young age and she has developed this interest in varying chapters, most recently training in soil health and compost expertise backed by science with microscopy skills. Her philosophy: the land, market gardens and farmers and all of us need support to get back to what nature has done expertly for millennia, and this helps on a massive scale to tackle climate change.
Her Mango Lab photography and multi-media courses – Wildlife Photography, Macro Photography, Time Lapse Photography and Film, to name a few – enthuse her students with new perspectives of the world around us. Her filming of a 3 month-10 African country odyssey as a one-woman film crew, living off a truck, camping, and managing backups and multiple challenges, documenting people, wildlife and adrenaline activities (some of which she undertook herself, including skydiving over the Namib Desert!) also adds to the experience and knowledge she brings to her students.
Her photography initially became second nature as she documented living in a village school in rural India, teaching Art and English, and travelling across the country. Her skill at languages has given her access to people and their wide-ranging cultures, from learning to fish in frozen lakes of the Siberian winter to studying Kiswahili grammar in the heat of Kenya & Tanzania. She has produced images for editorial use, appearing in magazines, on CD covers and in encyclopaedias, and at exhibitions.
Working in a design agency as photographer and accounts manager she photographed for and assisted in the production of prospectuses and annual reports for schools such as Wycombe Abbey, Woldingham, Francis Holland and City of London, as well as creative designs for commercial property marketing.
Teaching is a key part of her life wherever she calls home, inspiring adults and children in photography and languages, art and music. She has also successfully facilitated the use of photography and writing as a means to healing on workshops for people affected by trauma.
Her strong musical background has led her to sound recording, including underwater and the sounds of whales, fish and more recently worms busy composting! Julia combines her teaching with her own study of natural science and film.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, serves on the London Regional Committee, and is also a Fellow of the Linnean Society – both societies key to her passion for travel, the world, people and nature.
Watch Julia’s timelapse of a bean growing! Did you know plants move so much?!
www.juliamasseystewart.com
Karl Grupe
Partner | Creative Director
B.Arch. University of Manitoba, Canada MRes Design, Goldsmiths London
Karl began his teaching career coaching Special Olympics and working as a camp councillor for the YMCA in Canada. Today he works both as a professional photographer and busy adult education lecturer. He received a Grade 1, the highest award from Ofsted, for excellence in his photography teaching. His photography can be found at Getty Images where his work has been used from billboards to book covers for clients which include Life magazine, The New York Times, Microsoft, Sony, Nissan, Ikea, and the Royal Mail. His educational client list includes Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London Borough of Hounslow Council, St. Francis Xavier Sixth Form College, TenUK Ltd., Office Concierge Ltd. and Enjoy Work at Chiswick Park. He has also worked as Western Canadian Photo editor for Tony Stone Images Canada, curator and photographic judge. Under his mentoring students have been published by the British Journal of Photography, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Evening Standard, and Vice magazine; exhibited internationally; produced portfolios to win Bachelors and Masters placements; and made career transitions to full-time professional photographers.
He is a Goldsmiths graduate with a Distinction in Masters of Research in Design where he researched the shifting landscape of professional practice in photography with the advent of smartphone photography and social media streams. This research fed into workshops he delivered to a variety of clients including Leeds Castle, the London Transport Museum, University Arts London, Royal Photographic Society and photography and design festivals including Urban Photo Fest, SNAP Photography Festival, London Design Festival, Design Futures and the Prospects of Design Festival. See his website dedicated to his research.
For adventure Karl successfully “Escaped from Alcatraz” in the infamous and dangerous Californian triathlon. He has the Rapperswil Half Ironman in Switzerland under his belt, along with a few London Triathlons where he raised funds for the NSPCC (National Society for the Protection of Children).