Cliona Cassidy

Best of 2024

Happy New Year everyone. 2024 marked 10 years since I became a self-employed photographer full-time. I’ve been meaning to write a separate blog about that cause, as you can imagine, there’s a lot to tell but I simply haven’t gotten around to it. It’s on my to-do list! All I will say is that I felt a shift happened this past year in terms of the kind of work that comes my way, the profile of clients I attract and the frequency of jobs. All for the better. One of 2024 highlights for me, was definitely shooting the Celtic Connections festival. I loved working on it and am delighted to be asked to do it again this year (the festival kicks off on January 16). Another high point was working on The Road Less Travelled, the new Horse album - it was a labour of love with a dear friend and I’m proud of it. Below you can find a dozen of my favourite images from the past year.

ALBUMS OF 2024
Cowboy Carter Beyoncé
Dance, No One’s Watching Ezra Collective
Fabiana Palladino Fabiana Palladino
In Waves Jamie XX
Deeper Well Kacey Musgraves
A La Sala Khruangbin
Short n’ Sweet Sabrina Carpenter
Tyla Tyla
Small Changes Michael Kiwanuka
Orquídeas Kali Uchis

SONGS OF 2024
Deeper Well Kacey Musgraves
Espresso Sabrina Carpenter
Midnight Cowboy Jade
Aquamarine Addison Rae
Texas Hold ‘Em Beyoncé
Truth or Dare Tyla
360 Charli XCX
Yes, And? Ariana Grande
Stay With Me Through the Night Fabiana Palladino
Treat Each Other Right Jamie XX

Pictures

Pictures is a project by Cliona Cassidy (voice) and Catriona McKay (harp and harmonium). I've worked with both artists on several occasions over the years, have great respect for them so it was a pleasure to be asked to photograph and design their EP. Cliona and Catriona had a very clear idea of what they wanted for the cover image and its inspiration was a famous Frida Kahlo photograph of the Mexican painter working in her studio (which you can see below). We first took a portrait of Catriona and then photographed Cliona standing next to an easel, just like Kahlo. Rest of the work was done in photoshop. See the EP cover below as well other images from that session:

GEAR
Nikon D4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8
PocketWizard FlexTT5 Transceiver
PocketWizard MiniTT1 Transmitter 
Nikon SB-5000 Speedlight
Neewer 120cm Octabox