Female
I’ve been working with Glasgow’s branch of Toni & Guy for quite some time now, taking photos for various hair colour and styling competitions throughout the years. Below you can see some of my personal favourites from these sessions.
The shoot with cellist Justyna Jablonska was meant to happen in March this year but, like many other projects, it was postponed until it was safe to do it. You know, something about a pandemic. When I was finally on the train to Edinburgh for our rescheduled shoot after the restrictions had been lifted, I realised I hadn't missed taking photos at all and begun to wonder whether I still had it in me. I wasn’t even sure whether I was interested in photography anymore. I know it may sound like crazy talk, but crazy seems to be the operative word for 2020 and it was genuinely what was going through my head sitting on that train (mask on, thank you very much).
During the lockdown, I was lucky enough to be healthy and have money to get by (was also eligible for the self-employment income support scheme) and after the initial panic, I decided to make the best of a bad situation. I found a strange comfort in knowing that we were all in the same boat and that there was absolutely nothing I could do. So I did things I don't normally have the time to do - took some online courses (music theory and such), read books (Maya Angelou, soul trilogy by Stuart Cosgrove and Ronan Farrow’s brilliant Catch and Kill among others), I messed around with music, played the guitar - you get the picture. I missed swimming but overall it wasn’t hard going for me.
Anyway, 5 minutes into this post-lockdown shoot with Justyna, I felt an overwhelming sensation of being in the right place, at the right time, doing what felt right. Perhaps it wasn’t so much that I didn’t miss photography, it’s just that I needed some time off to realise how much I actually loved it. Justyna and I had a great time, we shot outdoors and in her flat, it was easy and fun and we’ve already got other projects in the pipeline together. Check out some of the images below for the time being:
GEAR
Nikon D850
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Neewer 120cm Octabox
Profoto A1
Profoto Air Remote TTL-N for Nikon
In August 2010 I had my first photoshoot with Jill Jackson. I was working as a graphic designer at The Print Box at the time, and Jill was one of our clients. I worked on various posters and an EP for her and struck an e-mail friendship with Jill’s assistant at the time. I noticed that they kept using the same images for promo so I thought “what the hell” and suggested taking new photos of Jill. If they like them - great; if not, it would still be a great experience for me. I’ve been taking pictures since I was a kid, it’s always been a hobby of mine, so I sent a few examples of my past work and awaited a response. Luckily, Jill liked what she saw and agreed to do a session with me.
The first time Jill and I met in person was at King Tut’s where she was playing a gig. I didn’t really know what to expect from Jill or her music, but as I stood there watching her perform I could feel myself getting increasingly excited at the prospect of photographing her - you can’t fake that kind of stage presence and charisma. And I loved the songs too. We had a brief chat after the show and a week later we were doing the shoot.
A good friend of mine had a beautiful old house with a garden in Mount Vernon and that’s where that first session took place. My partner was helping with the lights and the three of us quickly bonded over our love for music and Kath & Kim (“Look at moiye, look at mooooiye!”). It marked the beginning of a years-long friendship and numerous other collaborations followed. We shot everywhere and all sorts; from abandoned jails to being knee-deep in freezing Loch Lomond; from album and magazine covers to concerts and music videos. Unwittingly, that first session with Jill would also be the start of my photography career as my work with her lead to commissions from other artists. In four years I would leave The Print Box to become a full-time photographer.
Whether there’s still a photography career for me to come back to after this pandemic remains to be seen. In the meantime, however, I thought it would be nice to celebrate this 10-year landmark by posting an image from every session/collaboration I’ve done with Jill so far - there are live shots (hers was the very first concert I ever photographed), some behind the scenes photos as well as outtakes and images that haven’t been published anywhere till now.
I need to come clean here though - a few of the earlier photos have been re-edited. There was some bad retouching and heavy-handed colour treatments that I couldn’t look at now. You live, you learn!
Which image is your favourite? Perhaps you attended some of the gigs? Let me know and enjoy:
“My Baby” music video, May 2018.
“Goodbye” music video, January 2019.
I’ve now worked with Horse for almost a decade and have written about our various collaborations a few times (here, here and here for example). Over the years we became friends and being in her company, whether informally or professionally, is always a joy so when I’m asked to join her on yet another project I say yes without asking too many questions. This time it was to photograph a very special gig at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall last November celebrating 30 years of “The Same Sky”, Horse’s debut album. It was a brilliant, emotional show - from a haunting version of “Careful” backed by a 3-peace string section to a full on disco blast of “Could It Be Magic”, it was a night to remember. Lucky for those who missed it, the evening was filmed for a future DVD release (which I’m about to start editing - not a daunting task, at all…). In the meantime, some images from the night:
Behind the Scenes / Soundcheck:
The Same Sky 30 Live:
GEAR
Nikon D4
Nikon D850
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8
Elaine Lennon is a singer/songwriter who, despite being relatively new to the music industry has already managed to bag 2019 Celtic Connections Danny Kyle Award as well as a “One to Watch” nod from Nashville Songwriters’ Association International. Her debut album is out early next year and it was a genuine joy and pleasure to work on this release (I was responsible for photography and artwork). The photos were taken one June afternoon earlier this year on Lunan Bay, one of my favourites beaches in Scotland. We had a great laugh taking photos and blasting 90s R&B in the car on the way back. Grab a copy of the album when it’s out and check out some of the promo images below in the meantime:
Behind the scenes:
GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
