The Dolls are Louise McCarthy (Only an Excuse?) and Gayle Telfer Stevens (River City) and I wrote about working with them before. When their Dolls Abroad tour finally hit the King's Theatre in Glasgow earlier this spring (for 3 sold out shows no less) I was asked to document the process of putting the show together. It was a very, very long day but in all honesty, it was one of the most rewarding working experiences I've had. Have a look at some of the shots below:
Live
Celtic Orbit
Celtic Orbit is a musical collaboration between acclaimed pianist Barry Douglas and Eimear McGeown (Flute), Catriona McKay (Harp) and Chris Stout (Fiddle). I photographed and filmed part of their rehearsal process at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall earlier this year, have a look below:
Ceol's Craic
Established in 2004, Ceòl's Craic is a year-round programme of the best in contemporary Gaelic culture. I've had the pleasure of working with them for a few years now, photographing various events, from plays and book launches to music showcases at CCA. It's fun, sometimes challenging and often educational (who knew there was so much brilliant electronica in Gaelic?). Here's a collection of some of my favourite images for Ceòl's Craic:
The Dolls
The Dolls are Louise McCarthy (Only an Excuse?) and Gayle Telfer Stevens (River City) and I've known them for a few years through my work with Soul Nation Choir (Gayle and Lousie have both sung with this brilliant choir). I'd been hearing (and seeing clips online) of their double act for a while but somehow never got the chance to see it live until I was asked to photograph a couple of their sold-out Dolls Abroad shows at The Mitchell Theatre this September. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen - I was photographing it with tears streaming down my face! After 8 sold-out shows at The Mitchell Theatre, The Dolls are hitting the road next spring to bring Dolls Abroad to venues all over Scotland. Fat chance getting tickets (some dates were sold out within 10 minutes) but it's definitely worth trying cause these two (and the brilliant Alan Orr who also stars in the show) will knock your socks out!
Christine Bovill's Piaf
I went to see Christine Bovill's much talked-about "Piaf" show at the very beginning of its run at this year's Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and I was floored - by the artist, her performance, her voice, the theatricality and last but not least The Famous Spiegeltent setting. How could I not come back and try to photograph it? I met Christine for coffee in Glasgow's West End, she kindly agreed to let me document the concert and I came back to Edinburgh to photograph the penultimate performance of this year's "Piaf" run. It was quite an unusual setting for me - the only instruments were the piano and the violin (and Christine's voice, of course), The Famous Spiegeltent is a very intimate venue which combined with an incredibly attentive audience made me feel quite aware of my presence there. You don't want to disturb anyone and draw attention to yourself and I did the best I could given that I'm 6' 4" and the shutter on D700 is a rather loud one. Here are some photos for you to see. I have no idea if there are any plans for future "Piaf" shows but be sure to see one if you get a chance, you won't be disappointed!
