Process

My Exhibition, Year On

When I started a draft for this entry, the opening sentence begun with “it’s been over a month since my exhibition”. Here we are, and it’s been now exactly a year since the event, so I guess it’s about time I made an attempt at finishing this post.

While I have taken part in some collective showings of various works previously, “People” was my first solo exhibition. Whenever I was asked whether I’d ever do a solo show, I always said it was unlikely unless I had the right space and the right people around me and did it for the right reasons (rather than just for the sheer vanity of seeing one’s name on display). As it happened, all of these variables converged last year - The Vacant Space is a really cool gallery in a great area (Finnieston) and my friend Claire Stewart, a photography lecturer at City College of Glasgow, agreed to curate the project. I also managed to get Via-Duct on board for marketing and design, Skylark PR to help with the public relations side of things and secured the backing of Resonance Capital who sponsored the prints (done by the brilliant folk at Deadly Digital). With this stellar team in place I thought “why the hell not?”

I had first meetings with Claire back in April 2019, when we started to narrow down the selection of photographs to be shown. I trust her judgement completely and knew she wouldn’t sugar-coat anything just because we were pals. The challenge was to find a set of images that worked well as a collective, but where each photo would also stand on its own merit. We started with around 160 photographs which I thought were my strongest, and reduced the lot to a nifty fifty. I had that 50 printed, and from these, we boiled down our choices to the final 25 (it’s so much easier to make your picks and cuts when you can see physical images laid out in front of you). There were a few photographs that eventually got replaced as the exhibition was taking shape in the course of the following months, but the core was there.

I’m not going to lie, during the weeks leading up to the opening night I was shitting myself each time I thought about it. There’s comfort and safety in flying under the radar and not putting yourself out there too much. You know, you’re making a decent living doing what you love; work is steady and interesting more often than not; your Instagram following is modest but you learned to live with that. People don’t really have a chance to criticise you too much. Splashing your name in capital letters above a gallery door is very much an invitation to be judged, for people to fold their arms and go “who the fuck does he think he is now?”. I did however want to raise my profile a bit, perhaps attract new kinds of clients. There was also a very selfish and personal reason - I was turning 40 later that year, a milestone I was very much dreading, and I thought that having an exhibition would give me something exciting to look forward to. I know it sounds a tad dramatic perhaps but let me tell you, midlife crisis is REAL. At least I didn’t buy a motorcycle.

Anyway, the opening night ended up being one of the high points in my life, truly. The gallery was packed with friends and people I worked with over the years (we eventually spilled onto the street due to lack of space) and I was reminded that my job is as much about taking pictures as it is about making genuine connections with people. I sometimes think the latter part is actually what I love most about being a photographer. At the end of the night, there wasn’t a single canapé (thank you Fèist) or a drop of Prosecco left. Nobody asked who the fuck did I think I was either, so I considered the whole endeavour a success!

The exhibition ran for just under a week and in retrospect, I think I should’ve had it on for a bit longer. Still, it achieved pretty much what I had hoped it would - I got some exposure, gained a few new clients and it was a brilliant experience all in all. I sold quite a few prints as well which came as a surprise (I was told portraiture didn't sell). It was also really interesting to see people react to my work. When you’re a musician, for example, you get up on stage, you perform and get an immediate reaction to what you’re doing; there’s an exchange of energy that happens in an instant - you know if you’re killing it or not basically. Being a photographer is much more solitary and apart from client’s feedback and some online comments, you don’t really see and feel people interacting with your work. I was at the gallery every day and it was fascinating to watch people go around the exhibition, discuss their different favourites, make up stories behind the photos and see things I never noticed or considered myself.

Would I do it again? Probably. Not in the nearest future anyway. For the time being, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came and saw “People” and to those who made it possible in the first place. I’m leaving you with some images taken during the preparations for it:

Noise - Love Speaks Opera

Noise is a Scottish opera company whose aim is to broaden the audience for contemporary opera in Scotland. I’ve worked with them previously on their “Hirda” project, an opera written in Shetlandic dialect, and was delighted to be back photographing and filming their most recent production, “Love Speaks”. “Love Speaks” is a short opera written by Kevan O’Reilly and Jenny Knotts about love and relationships, celebrating the availability of prEP on NHS Scotland. The short piece was directed by James Robert Carson and featured stellar performances from Marie Claire Breen, Douglas Gordon, Kenny Reid and Shuna Scott Sendall. You can see the short film I made for this below and some images from live performances and rehearsals.

GEAR:
Nikon D4
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4

Video filmed with Sony A7III + Sony 35mm f1.8
Metabones Nikon G to Sony NEX E-mount Converter
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8
Zhiyun Crane 2 Gimbal
Edited in FCPX

Miss Jackson and The Getaway Driver

Had an extremely productive Sunday for a change - finally managed to sort out that mountain of paperwork I've been moaning about for months! Kind of had to be done, really, as I'm moving flat soon and wasn't prepared to take that burden with me to the new place... Anyways, I thought I'd do a bit of a flashback post this time around and write about a project I was involved in earlier on this year, before I started this blog. I mentioned Jill Jackson a couple of times here (for those unfamiliar with Jill, she's the hot ex-frontwoman for Speedway), I've photographed her on numerous occasions over the past few years and I always enjoy working with her and her team but there was something particularly special about the "Getaway Driver" album project.

We started with a small promo shoot in January. It took place in an abandoned warehouse situated above a fishmongers so not only it was freezing cold but it stank of fish as well. We had a 90s R&B playlist to keep us going however and Jill soldiered on:

Later that month I went into the recording studio with Jill and her band (Lisa Tring, Fraser John Lindsay, Lorna Thomas and Johnny MacKinnon) to document the process of making the album. I love music as much as I love photography so I'm like a kid in a candy store whenever I get a chance to be involved in such ventures. Norman Blake (of Teenage Fanclub fame) can also be seen in a few shots here:

When all that was done it was time to shoot the album and single cover. We used a vintage Mercedes sitting in an Arnold Clark warehouse in Glasgow (previously on display at the Transport Museum apparently). Apart from it being ridiculously cold (recurring theme it seems) the shoot itself was pretty uncomplicated - all natural/available light, a reflector and one very cool lady:

Jill Jackson, "Getaway Driver" Single Cover

Jill Jackson, "Getaway Driver" Single Cover

Jill Jackson, "Getaway Driver" Album Cover

Jill Jackson, "Getaway Driver" Album Cover

The cover artwork was designed by The Print Box in Glasgow and the album was eventually released in May. It's probably one of my favourite records of 2012 - I may be biased, I admit, but I'll stick by it! In fact, my friends and I loved one of the tracks so much we decided to shoot our own music video to it. Heavily influenced by ABBA and late 70s kitsch in general, it involved a lot of wigs, cut out disco balls, sequined accessories, dancing and, inevitably, fizzy! The fact that MTV Video Music Awards ignored it in this year's selection is beyond me: Drag On The Line

Right, is this a long post or what? I think the subject matter was worthy though! Next time I promise something brand spanking new. Cheerio till then! PS. For my other work with Jill Jackson feel free to have a look in this gallery.

The artist & the photographer

The artist & the photographer