Ania Kesiak

Best of 2023

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2023 summary

So yes, I have been slacking a bit when it comes to this blog. The last few months of 2023 were really busy with work and travel and something had to give. Overall, last year was good when it came to work. I was involved in some interesting projects - travelled with Gareth Williams to the Scottish Highlands to photograph the cover for his “Songs from the Last Page” release; was in Wales with Brooks Williams photographing and filming the recording process for his just-released album “Diamond Days”; shot a short fashion film for Studio Floor and helped Horse with her successful Kickstarter campaign for the new record “The Road Less Travelled” among others. I also started doing regular personal projects where I take a day each month to collaborate with interesting people and shoot just for the fun and creativity of it. It allows me to try things, experiment, and perhaps fail a bit.

Anyway, I’m back and kicking off 2024 with some of my favourite images from the past year. Enjoy!

ALBUMS OF 2023
The Love Invention Alison Goldfrapp
Fuse Everything But The Girl
That! Feels Good! Jessie Ware
The Age of Pleasure Janelle Monáe
Mid Air Romy
Hit Parade Róisín Murphy
Volcano Jungle
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess Chappell Roan
Sundown Eddie Chacon
The Returner Allison Russell

SONGS OF 2023
Freak Me Now Jessie Ware
You Knew Róisín Murphy
Lipstick Lover Janelle Monáe
Miley Cyrus Flowers
Houdini Dua Lipa
Rush Troye Sivan
Nothing Left To Lose Everything But The Girl
Demons Allison Russell
Water Tyla

Ania Kesiak Nails

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COMPETITION NAILS BY ANIA KESIAK

Ania Kesiak is an award-winning nail artist based in Glasgow. She runs the Beauty Beehive salon in St. George’s Cross and she also happens to be my sister. I wrote about photographing her throughout the years before, but I thought it was about time I did a post about various work I’ve done for her in a professional capacity. Ania has taken part in numerous nail competitions throughout the years, a lot of them included a photographic element and she’s won most of them (honestly, it’s quite sickening - the list of all the trophies and titles she’s won so far would take a whole separate blog entry). Below you can find some of my favourites and bear in mind that all of the nail creations you see were done from scratch with acrylic by hand!

Mugdock Park

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Portraits in Mugdock Park

Mugdock Country Park is one of my favourite outdoors spaces to photograph in. It’s easily accessible from Glasgow and not too remote. There are bits of it that feel like remote countryside, places that are lush green and overgrown with ferns. You can find meadows, huge trees, water, there are even ruins of a castle - basically a never-ending source of photo inspiration and despite having done numerous shoots there over the years, I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of the park. In fact, I got lost there for a bit on a shoot last year, wandering in a wooded area in circles. Below you can see one image from every shoot I’ve done in Mugdock Park so far. Enjoy.

My Sister Ania

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My sister Ania has been the subject/victim of my photographic endeavours ever since I knew how to press the shutter button on a camera. Now, I'd like to be able to tell you here a nice, sentimental tale of how I was a wonderfully attentive older brother wanting to capture every moment of my beloved sibling but that just wouldn't be true. Ania likes to tell the story of how, whenever the two of us were going somewhere together I would walk ahead with my headphones on, blasting music while she was trying to keep up with me a few steps behind. There's my level of brotherly attentiveness for you.

Having said that, she’s always been available to have a picture taken and willing to indulge whatever ideas I might have. Getting wrapped in cassette tape? Sure! Posing in a bath filled with paper offcuts? Bring it on! Wearing nothing but tinfoil? Where do I sign up? I could go on but you get the picture. Our relationship has changed quite a bit since we were kids and she not only became my absolute favourite person but also someone I truly admire. I don't photograph her as much as I used to these days as we're both busy with our work (Ania's a seriously talented, award-winning nail artist and runs a salon in Glasgow called Beauty Beehive) but there's probably a book's worth of images I've taken of her throughout the years. Some are great, some of questionable standard but all are a testament to our growth: her as a woman and mine as a photographer and I thought it would be interesting to share some of them here. Enjoy.

And here's a bonus picture of us together as kids:

Hello 2016!

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Welcome to 2016. So here we go - Happy New Year to you all. I'm in a much calmer and happier place this January than the year before and am truly looking forward to the coming 12 months. In the meantime, here are some of my favourite shots from the year past:

David Eustace, Photographer | January 2015
David Eustace, Photographer | January 2015
Skerryvore, Live at the Old Fruitmarket | January 2015
Skerryvore, Live at the Old Fruitmarket | January 2015
Toni & Guy | February 2015
Toni & Guy | February 2015
Ania Kesiak Nails | March 2015
Ania Kesiak Nails | March 2015
Rafal, Hairdresser | April 2015
Rafal, Hairdresser | April 2015
Sandie Robertson, Life Coach | June 2015
Sandie Robertson, Life Coach | June 2015
Silvia Pellegrino, Fashion Designer | June 2015
Silvia Pellegrino, Fashion Designer | June 2015
Ludovic Favier, Model | June 2015
Ludovic Favier, Model | June 2015
Chouchou Couture | June 2015
Chouchou Couture | June 2015
Tom Kendall, Ballet Dancer | June 2015
Tom Kendall, Ballet Dancer | June 2015
Christine Bovill, Singer/Songwriter | September 2015
Christine Bovill, Singer/Songwriter | September 2015
Robert the Pug | September 2015
Robert the Pug | September 2015
Lorna Thomas, Bass Player | October 2015
Lorna Thomas, Bass Player | October 2015
Mason McKenzie Wedding | December 2015
Mason McKenzie Wedding | December 2015
Carlton Martin | December 2015
Carlton Martin | December 2015