Portrait

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
Jaguar II Victoria Monét
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

Barbra Kolasinski Fashion Editorial

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FASHION EDITORIAL WITH DESIGNER BARBRA Kolasinski

I’ve known designer Barbara Kolasinski for a few years now. We’ve collaborated on several occasions (here for example) and became friends along the way. Earlier this year I decided to carve out a day every month for personal, creative work where I invite various people to collaborate and take some photos just for fun. It allows me to experiment, and try things I don’t get to do with paid clients. It also gets me excited about photography again. Barbra’s been on the list of prospective collaborations for this and lucky for me she was up for having some photos taken. We shot a lot with hard light that day, something I’ve always been scared of but I am scared of it no more thanks to how this shoot turned out. We were going for retro vibes - some Old Hollywood, some 1980s. Have a look below.

Hair, Make Up & Styling: Michelle Watson
Studio: Basement49

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Profoto A1 x 2
Profoto B10
120cm Octabox
Softbox 3' Octa
Softgrid Octa
Reflector

Songs From The Last Page

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Photography, Video & Artwork for Gareth Williams’
“Songs From The Last Page” project

“Songs from the Last Page” is an ongoing project by an acclaimed composer/songwriter Gareth Williams where he lyrically transforms iconic final pages from Scottish fiction into brand-new 'literary chamber pop' songs. I’ve worked with Gareth on various ventures throughout the years (such as “Navigate the Blood”) but “Songs from the Last Page” has been really special. It’s been growing and developing for the past 2 years and I’ve been fortunate to be involved from the beginning: taking photos, filming, and eventually working on promotional artwork and CD packaging. For someone who thrives on creative control, this has been a dream. We shot at Edinburgh College of Art, recording studios, and even travelled to the Scottish Highlands to photograph the album cover at Loch Glass. You can check all of that and more below and you can catch Gareth performing some of these songs live at this year’s Fringe Festival. The album is out now.

2021

2022
with Deirdre Graham.

2023
with Aisling O Dea (violin) and Justyna Jablonska (cello) at GloWormRecording studio.

“Song from the Last Page of Lanark” Single Cover.

Fringe promo poster

Fringe promo poster.

Emma Dunlop

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Editorial shoot with singer songwriter Emma Dunlop

I met Emma Dunlop when she came to the opening of my exhibition Women At COP26 last autumn but actually, as it turned out, I photographed her many years ago as part of The Kennedy Cupcakes dance troupe at a corporate event in Glasgow. We chatted very briefly at the launch and I remember thinking it would be great to photograph her at some point. We managed to make it happen last month when we spent a day in a studio with a small, yet brilliant team, trying different things and just having fun. We wanted a lot of shadows, shapes, androgyny, oversized suits and playing with the ideas of masculine and feminine. I never shoot with hard light, like ever, so this was something new for me to try as most set ups we prepared for this session were all about hard lighting. See our initial references below as well as a few of the final images.

Hair, Make Up & Styling: Michelle Watson
Assistance: Jack Thomson
Studio: Basement49

Visual References

Behind the Scenes (taken by Jack Thomson):

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Profoto B10
Profoto A1
Profoto OCF Softbox 3' Octa

Profoto OCF Beauty Dish White 2'

Neewer 120cm Octabox
Reflector