Portrait

Best of 2022 + Interview

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2022 Summary

This has been a rather strange year. When I sat down to compile my favourite images from the past 12 months, I felt quite dispirited when it comes to my work - nothing major, just slightly blah. And then it turned out I struggled to whittle down my selection to only 12 photos, it would appear I’ve actually done more interesting work than I gave myself credit for. Perhaps it’s just winter blues.

The main event of 2022 when it comes to my work was undoubtedly the Women At COP26 exhibition. It was quite an undertaking, a huge learning curve and something I’m very proud of. While its run at Trongate 103 finished at the end of October, it has now found a new home at Skypark in Finnieston where it will officially launch in January (albeit in a slightly abridged version). So there’s something to look forward to in the New Year, never a bad thing.

INTERVIEW - THE BRAW & THE BRAVE PODCAST

In other news, I was recently interviewed for The Braw & The Brave, Lisa Kennedy’s award-winning podcast about creative people and their passions. If you fancy listening to me talk about my work, discussing imposter syndrome and how I take my porridge in the morning among other earth-shattering revelations, click here to listen on Apple Podcasts or stream below via Soundcloud:

Anyway, back to 2022 summary - here’s my favourite dozen. Enjoy and let me know what you think:

And here’s what I’ve been obsessed with musically in 2022:

ALBUMS OF 2022
Renaissance Beyoncé
Yours Aye Jill Jackson
Motomami Rosalía
Dawn FM The Weeknd
Midnights Taylor Swift
Dirt Femme Tove Lo
Gemini Rights Steve Lacy
Angels & Queen Part 1 Gabriels
Blue Lawns The Great Yawn
Prism Say She She

SONGS OF 2022
Bad Habits Steve Lacy
Anti-Hero Taylor Swift
Baby Chicken Jill Jackson
Cosy Beyoncé
No One Dies From Love Tove Lo
Hung Up On Tokischa Madonna & Tokischa
Leaving Horse
Better Man Say She She
As It Was Harry Styles
Holy Hell Eddie Chacon

Remembering Rab Noakes

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Rab Noakes 1947 - 2022

It’s truly surreal and heartbreaking to write a heading like this. Only a few weeks ago I was in a recording studio with Rab where he was working on a new album with Brooks Williams. He was in great form, cracking jokes, and his voice sounded great. And yet here we are. I got a message from a friend on Friday asking whether I’d heard the news about Rab. I did not and my heart sank.

I met Rab Noakes through Jill Jackson, his close friend and a frequent collaborator, who enrolled me to take some promotional images for their upcoming tour. Rab and I got on very well, he liked the images and would get me to photograph him for his following projects with Barbara Dickson, Brooks Williams as well as solo. I loved taking pictures of him, he was one the most impeccably dressed men I’ve ever encountered and his charisma and charm were a joy to capture. While we didn’t always see eye to eye (Rab thought ABBA was nothing special and Ella Fitzgerald was overrated - gasp!) we always had a great time together and he was incredibly supportive of my work, kept recommending me to other artists and attended my exhibitions.

I leave you with some of my favourite images I took of Rab throughout the years.

He’s greatly missed.

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.

Women at COP26 Exhibition

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TRONGATE 103 Gallery SEPT 29 - OCT 23 2022

New Portrait Exhibition

I wrote about several projects I was involved in during COP26, and one of them was #GirlsAtCOP26 where I photographed various female speakers from all over the world. The event has since won an international award and now, almost a year from the climate conference in Glasgow, an exhibition featuring 50 portraits of women I took during those two weeks in 2021 is opening on Thursday, September 29th at Trongate 103 Gallery in collaboration with Street Level Photoworks.

Claire Stewart, a friend of mine and a brilliant photography lecturer at City of Glasgow College, is curating the show (she was an invaluable asset when I was putting together my previous exhibition). We’ve been working with Claire, Glasgow City Council and project manager Shirani Sabaratnam for the past 6 months and while the last few weeks have been rather stressful, I’m now excited and delighted to be finally able to let everyone know about this project. Prints have been made by the ever-reliable folks at Deadly Digital using environmentally friendly materials. The exhibition runs till October 23rd so there’s plenty of time for you to go and see it and when you do, I’d love to hear about it!

Scroll below for some behind-the-scenes snaps taken during preparations as well as the gallery’s opening hours and location.

 

Trongate 103 Gallery opening times:

Monday CLOSED
Tuesday 10:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 10:00 - 17:00
Thursday 10:00 - 17:00
Friday 10:00 - 17:00
Saturday 10:00 - 17:00
Sunday 12:00 - 17:00

Marissa Keltie

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Portfolio shoot with Marissa Keltie

I’ve known Marissa Keltie for a few years and have worked with her several times as part of The Eves duo. However, this was the first time I photographed her alone. Aside from being a talented musician, Marissa is also a commercial model and a voice-over artist and was looking to update her portfolio. I love how these images turned out and I think Marissa is pleased too cause this is what she had to say about this session:

 
“Kris Kesiak is such an amazing photographer who I have the pleasure of working with regularly. He always manages to get the shots I’m looking for and always has a smile on his face, singing and dancing - shoots with him are lots of fun!”
 

I’m blushing although perhaps I should cut down on the singing, I’m not that good! Aaaanyway, the shoot took place last month at Basement49, an East End studio I use a lot and you can see some images from that day below:

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist ¼ Filter
Profoto B10 + Profoto OCF Softbox 3' Octa
OCF Softgrid Octa
Reflector