Digital Camera World - UK (2019-12)

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

photographer and you have a store, and

you do photography that way; or you become

more artistic. I didn’t want to stand in a shop,

so I went the artistic way and I studied

fine art photography.

A big part of what I studied was art forms,

the disciplines and the meaning of things. It

still helps me now, because there’s so much

in the work of Leonardo Da Vinci or whoever...

their basics, you still use them today.

Is that in terms of composition?

Mostly. It’s also what certain things translate

to your brain. I think that’s very important,

because photography is a communication

tool. You want to tell a story and you want to

express something, but how do you translate

that into an image and for people who look

at it... How does it translate to their brains?

How did you achieve your big

break into music photography?

I used to be a really big music fan, and I’d go

to gigs, sneak my camera in and take pictures

for myself. But, for some reason, I never

thought that could be a career. I started

out in fashion photography, but after a couple

of years, I really got bored with it because

you don’t have a lot of say. You have all

these people – art directors and whoever

• who say what is being shot and how,
  so I didn’t like that too much.
  So I went into editorial photography and did
  that for a couple of years, then got bored of
  that as well. Then, by accident really, I shot
  a friend of my partner – a couple of pictures
  of his band – and he sent it through to the
  management of Status Quo, saying, “If
  you want a fresh feel for your band, here’s a
  photographer you could use.” They called me
  and gave me an assignment, and I thought,
  “Oh my God, I can go to a gig and get paid
  for it! Wow!” The decision was quickly made.

After the Status Quo commission,

how did things progress?

It was very difficult. I basically just jumped

into it with my eyes closed and poked around.

It’s a tough world out there, especially in the

music industry. Soon after Status Quo, I got

a commission from Joe Satriani, who hired

me to shoot for him and I thought, “Oh,

I’m on a roll.” Then you realise that this is

the real world and now you have to start

knocking on doors and presenting yourself.

It’s basically knocking on a thousand

doors and maybe getting one “yes”. It’s a

hard struggle to make a name for yourself.

“ It’s knocking

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getting one ‘yes’ ”

Above: Taylor Swift,
Centurylink Center,
Omaha, 2013.

Below: Celine Dion,
Hyde Park, 2019.

Opposite: Nick Cave at
home, Brighton, 2017.

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