They’re the words you expect to hear just before jumping straight to a video link featuring a honed and prepared acceptance speech free of tears and pregnant pauses.

Alas, it was not to be for, although an absent Simon got a well-deserved silver for the Ship Song Project and a bronze award for the Schweppes campaign at The Art Directors Club Annual Awards in New York.

It’s probably just as well to be honest – they’d have had a hard time catching up with him as he zipped around the USA Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, taking pictures of some of the nation’s best and brightest before they head over to London to take all Britain’s medals.

Here’s what it looks like

And that’s not the only Schweppes-related news, oh no. The campaign goes from strength to strength, and has made it into PDN’s 2012 Photo Annual.

Which was nice.

Good news for the POOL collective and their publication Blow Up which has made it into the D&AD 2012 book!

Look!

To say that this is something of an achievement is like saying Donald Trump’s got a bit of spare cash knocking about. And the taste of success is particularly sweet this year as it’s the third in a row that Simon has made it into D&AD, which represents a truly amazing hat-trick.

And talking of hat-tricks, if Torres can keep his recent form and lead Chelsea to a big win over Liverpool in Saturday’s FA Cup final (that’s soccerball for our American readers) then it’s entirely likely that Simon will explode with happiness.
Or get a bit drunk.

Alright there? Hope you’ve all been keeping well. Following on quite nicely from the last post, this missive is to let you all know that Simon’s collaboration with his father, the award-winning poet David Harsent, Into the Abyss, is being exhibited now at the Sydney Opera House.
Very fitting given the connection to the Opera House’s Ship Song Project.
It’s there until 8 May so, if you’re in the area (or even if you’re not), get down there…

More info here

The good ship Harsent set sail for the Australian Writers & Art Directors Awards (AWARD) and and a good job too. The panel had seen fit to give a bronze for last year’s Ship Song project – news that helped to put a bit of wind in our sails!

Cast the mainsail (or something) and catch us next time we’re weighing anchor. That’s probably enough of the ship puns for now… See ya!

If photography had its own Who’s Who, it would look very much like industry go-to mag Luerzer’s Archive, which has just released its 200 Best Advertising Photographers Issue for 2012.  And guess what? It would appear that Simon’s now become something of a regular fixture.

While you’re waiting for your copy to come through, we can give you a sneak peek at one of the shots featured in the book. Y’know, as it’s you…

Yeah, we know, good isn’t it? This was the result of a ‘day off’ while on location in Manchester. It’s a beautiful shot that, we feel, tells us something important about the real Simon.

He doesn’t have days off.

More soon…

Hello all, been a while hasn’t it? So, while the sun beats down on an unseasonably hot London, it’s probably about time to tell you about a certain New York-based photographer’s showing in the Australian National Portrait prize. Man, we are just, like, so international.

Anyway, if clicking on the above link seems like just a step too far in the effort stakes, then please, allow us…

You’re welcome.

Simon was one of the finalists, and it’s not hard to see why… this stylish and timeless shot is of two friends, Janai and Josh as they wait to take their wedding vows in the marriage registry office of City Hall, New York while on a round-the-world holiday. All the best to the happy couple.

That’s all for now, but there’ll be more soon. With our finger very much on the pulse of the interweb, we feel for the electronic heartbeat so that you don’t have to… something like that anyway…

Hello all, been a while hasn’t it? We trust that 2012 is treating you well so far and that you’re still managing to organise your lives in the absence of last year’s Harsent/Oh Play calender. Speaking of which, Wednesday 29th February is a date for the diary should you be within striking distance of the Alison Milne Gallery in Toronto.

It is with a considerable amount of pride that we report they will be showing Melt: Portrait of an Iceberg. The exhibition will run until 25th March, but Wednesday’s when the whole thing kicks off with an opening reception. Never one to miss out on a free drink, Simon will be there. We hope that some of you lot can make it too.

Don’t just take our word for it though, here’s what the gallery has to say:

“The Alison Milne Gallery is thrilled to welcome New York Photographer Simon Harsent and his exhibition Melt: Portrait of an Iceberg. In this collection of hauntingly beautiful photographs, Harsent documents the journey of a string of icebergs as they break away from the ice-wall off the West coast of Greenland and travel from Baffin Bay to the East Coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Arriving as sad and battered fragments of the once grandiose and alien glaciers, these icebergs remind us of the fragility of the arctic and the imposing threat of climate change.”
It’s got to be better than waiting for your girlfriend to propose, hasn’t it?

More news as it happens.

Simon recently visisted Hawaii. It’s a fascinating place – the group of islands was formed thousands of years ago by under-sea volcanoes that erupted and formed what remains the world’s largest mountain range. It’s a land that conjures evocative images of beautiful beaches, lazy sunsets… and waves. Big waves. The sort of waves that would make you want to pick up your surfboard and run. To safety that is. Basically, anywhere but directly at them.  Obvioulsy, given Harsent’s preoccupation with stormy seas, normal rules do not apply and the results are these shots for a new Schweppes campaign…

Credit where credit’s due:

There’s more to come over the following months, so keep your eyes peeled.

The creative collective that make up POOL are launching their new publication Blow Up this week. Designed by Maud and the members of POOL, it captures beautifully the collective ethos of the group within its pages. To celebrate the launch of this exciting project, there’s a group show ending with, quite possibly, a group hug and, following that, world domination. Or a hangover. One of the two.

Friday’s launch is an invite-only affair, but the show will be running throughout the weekend for members of the public to visit. And, if you’re in the area (Sydney’s Botanical Gardens no less) it promises to be a must-see event.

Simon’s contribution is a series of shots called Into the Abyss and, following their work together on the WWF campaign, is another stunning collaboration with his father, the award-winning poet David Harsent.

For those of you not lucky enough to be near Sydney this weekend click here.

More soon, so keep checking back…

As a corollary to the theory that a poor workman blames his tools, Simon took these above Salt Lake City en route to Hawaii… on his iPhone.

[Click on each image to see a larger version]

It’s amazing what results a change in perspective can have…