LGBT

The Road Less Travelled

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Photography, artwork and music videos for The Road Less Travelled, a new album from Horse McDonald.

Horse’s new album, The Road Less Travelled, has been many years in the making. In fact, it’s her first release since 2013’s Home which was the first project I worked on with Horse. In the decade or so since, we’ve become frequent collaborators and close friends. With years of projects under our belt and the trust that came with that, Horse let me have the reigns of the visual side of the new album as well as its promo - from photography and video for the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, album artwork and vinyl packaging to various merchandise pieces. I even managed to have a small hand in the recording process and sang backing vocals on one of the album tracks (that’s one off the bucket list!).

The first piece of The Road Less Travelled rollout was the music video for “Leaving”, released back in 2022. In the 2 years since, Horse has completed writing and recording the album and everything was in place for a late spring 2024 launch. Late last year, we started brainstorming ideas for the album promo and for the album’s title track video. While the song “The Road Less Travelled” deals with a relationship ending, we decided to treat the title as a metaphor for Horse’s life, incorporating various iconic images from her 3-decade-plus career as well as personal snaps.

As for the album cover image itself, in late February we booked Basement49 studio and spent a few hours trying different things out. Originally, Horse wanted the album cover to echo the artwork for her 1990 debut, The Same Sky. I wasn’t overly keen on that idea - felt it was pushing the nostalgia factor a step too far - but in the end, it’s my job to bring the artist’s vision to life. The way I often tend to work, however, is to give clients what they think they want but also provide them with something they didn’t know they needed. In this case, what Horse didn’t think she needed was the very last image taken that day which, according to her, turned out to be as iconic as that 1990 shot. I can’t take full credit here though. Originally, my idea for this particular shot was to photograph Horse from the back, showcasing her distinct hairstyle from that angle, but our stylist, Michelle Watson, kept telling Horse to turn her head back to the left and that was that. When Horse received the contact sheet with the images taken on the day, that very last frame was her first choice for the album cover.

Scroll below for the videos, promo images, photos from the album launch at CCA and the album artwork.

ALBUM COVER SHOOT:
Styling & Make Up: Michelle Watson Creative

ALBUM LAUNCH AT CCA:

VINYL ARTWORK:
Limited, hand-numbered edition on red vinyl, gatefold with 12” x 12” exclusive insert

ALBUM LAUNCH BOOKLET:

A Decade with Horse

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10 Years of working with Horse McDonald

Horse was a customer at a coffee shop I used to work at in Finnieston when I was a student in Glasgow in the mid-2000s (waaaaaay before the area was deemed the new Shoreditch). I didn't know who she was at the time, just another person I was making coffee for, and I certainly couldn't have predicted we would not only work together but also become close friends in the future.

Our first proper introduction happened during a Jill Jackson gig at the Renfrew Ferry in early 2011 (I wrote about my decade of photographing Jill here). We recognised each other from the coffee shop and briefly spoke about the possibility of working together at some point.

That opportunity came along when Horse was gearing up for the release of her album “Home” and needed some publicity shots. We spent a brilliant day with her band in Strachur in October 2012 and it marked the beginning of a fruitful working relationship which eventually turned into friendship. There have been photoshoots, countless live gigs and most recently, a music video for her banging single “Leaving”.

It was actually working with Horse that lead to me exploring video work. I was doing some behind-the-scenes shots on a music video of hers and the guys filming asked for assistance. I’d been asked by clients to do filming many times at that point but I always refused, I was too scared of the medium and worried I wouldn’t be able to translate the visual style of my photography work into moving image. Having helped on that video for Horse demystified the process for me and made me go “Oh, that’s really not that different from photography, I can do it!”.

You can see the “Leaving” video, shots from every collaboration we’ve done over the past decade (including previously unreleased images) as well some personal snaps below.

“Leaving” Music Video.

Jill Jackson, Yours Aye

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New album campaign for Jill Jackson

“Yours Aye” is the brand new album by Scottish singer-songwriter Jill Jackson. After several pandemic-related delays, it finally saw the light of day in early May (hitting #1 on iTunes Country Album Chart no less). I’ve written about working with Jill many, many times (you can read about our first decade together here for example) and what can I say? It’s always a pleasure and a really, really good laugh.

Jill approached me last year to do a photoshoot for the new album cover and after sending me some examples of the mood and style of images she was after (see below), I suggested shooting the whole thing on film. Since Jill loves all things analog there wasn’t any convincing needed. I have to admit though that before the session I started panicking a little - what if I mess up and we don’t get the cover shot we needed? I got back to shooting film in recent years but haven’t done many 100% analog projects for clients so to alleviate my paranoia and to cover my back I took my digital equipment along with my Nikon FM and ended up using both.

We shot in Basement49 Studio as well as outdoors in Glasgow’s Merchant City. Gulabi did a brilliant job developing and scanning the 5 rolls we went through on the day (2 color and 3 black and white) and you can see some of my favourite images from the session if you scroll below. Wonder if you can tell which ones were analog and which were digital?

My involvement in the project didn’t end there however. Earlier this year I filmed Jill’s live sessions at Gorbals Sound studios as well as an interview, all of which are being used to promote the album on various platforms. I was also recently at Cottiers where Jill officially launched the album with a brilliant live set. Have a look below to see all of that and more. Enjoy and do check out “Yours Aye”, it really is a masterclass in songwriting and production.

Jill's visual references

for the session

“Yours Aye” Album Cover:

“Yours Aye” album cover shoot.

Basement49 Studio and Merchant City in Glasgow, June 3rd 2021:

“Live Sessions”

Gorbals Sound, March 6th, 2021:

ALBUM LAUNCH

Cottiers, Soundcheck & Live Show, May 19, 2022

Behind the scenes:

GEAR

Digital:
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Studio Lights (can’t remember what was used exactly)

Analog:
Nikon FM + Nikkor 100mm f1.8
Kodak TX 400
Kodak Portra 400
Studio Lights

Video:
Sony A7III x 2
Sony 35mm f1.8
Sony 85mm f1.8
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 + Metabones Nikon G to Sony E-mount Converter
Profoto B10 + Profoto OCF Softbox 3' Octa
Neewer CN-216 LED Light x 2
DJI RS 2
Edited in FCPX

Live:
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 / Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8

BTS:
FujiFilm x100v
iPhone 11 Pro

Behind The Scenes with Horse

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“Leaving” is the new single from Horse, it premiered earlier this month and I had the pleasure of working on the music video to accompany the song.

Autumn this year will mark 10 years since Horse and I started working together (yes, there will be a blog about that too down the line), we’ve done a variety of projects over the decade but this was the first time doing a music video together.

Loosely inspired by Joan of Arc and filmed at the National Theatre of Scotland last December, it was a very low-key affair largely due to Covid-19 restrictions. We got the absolutely phenomenal Michelle Watson to style the shoot and do the make up. She also created the custom crowns Horse is seen wearing throughout the clip, while the mesh and armour bits were kindly provided by the National Theatre of Scotland’s costume department (thank you Aileen!).

I can’t lie, Horse is a legend and I was really nervous about doing her and the new song justice. I also had the idea of doing something a little bit different for her and showing Horse in a way that she’s never been seen before. Luckily, over the years of working together we became very good friends, she trusted me and gave her all on the shoot. Neither the armour nor the sword was light, and I had her running about, swinging the damn thing and lip-syncing for hours on end.

I’m pleased to say we’re still friends and Horse thinks the effort was worth it. I hope you think so too - have a look at the final video below followed by a few behind the scenes snaps taken on the day:

GEAR / BTS PHOTOS
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
FujiFilm x100v

GEAR / VIDEO
Sony A7III
Sony 35mm f1.8
Sony 85mm f1.8
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters
DJI RS 2 Gimbal
Profoto B10 + Profoto OCF Beauty Dish 2'
Neewer CN-216 LED Light x 2
Reflector
Tripod
Video edited in FCPX

The Same Sky 30 Live

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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