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Speak Media Blog
From the dressing room of Savages
I mean, who else - right? This band are KILLING IT right now and I think this might well be the subtlest yet most direct portrait I've ever taken. Was there shooting a Be Here Now before and after shot with the band and they left their new freebie DMs in there with me while they played the show. I grabbed them and grabbed the shot. Simple, clean, straight, honest, punchy shot of some great artists.
Andrew Weatherall for GQ Most Stylish Men List
I mean, just look at the guy. How anyone can continue to look this good after playing in as many nightclubs as Weathers must have is beyond me. He's also the friendliest chap and very giving of his time - he curated a night at the House of St Barnabas and it was just lovely. GQ have noticed his awesomeness and used my portrait to illustrate this. Sweet.
Huey Morgan
King Krule
King Krule
Sky Ferreira
Flux Pavilion
Rachel Khoo for Metropolitan Magazine
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds for MOJO cover, January issue
Nick Cave
Sky Ferreira for The Fly cover, December issue
Well, this was a good one. Pure Parisian chaos prior to us getting this but we got there. Sky was great to shoot, completely at home with me in this tiny hotel room and I totally got why there have been so so many notable shoots with Sky and why everyone, everywhere just love her so much. In 17 minutes, in the smallest room ever, we got loads of usable images and about 10 cover options. It's rare I say to a magazine, 'here you go, take your pic' but I was very happy to this time.
Raleigh Ritchie
I have a feeling that one day this cat will rule the world, and we will all be working for him. Game of Thrones. Awesome music and irritatingly good looking, talented, pleasant, young, man.
Jon Hopkins
The brilliant thing for me about Jon Hopkins is that I discovered on shooting him that he lives 100 yards from my house and I now see him in the caff, wine shop, all over. We had a chat about Brian Eno and he IS a complete don apparently, and what I suggested of him was completely incorrect. I'm a buffoon is why.
Jools Holland, Vanity Fair On Time
So you did know that I've wanted for my whole life to shoot for Vanity Fair, right? And here it is, at last, aged 43, my portrait of Jools Holland for Vanity Fair On Time. Shot on location at his studio in Greenwich, and he was every inch the kind host, giving me and VF the tour of his funny little corner of South East London. A wonderful experience from start to finish, and very proud of this one.
Connan Mockasin for The Fly
Such a beautiful man. I wanted the most normal portrait ever of this proper eccentric and I got just what I came for. He is so lovely too. I then wanted to wrap him in a sheepskin and carry him somewhere warm and show him off to all my friends, like an ewok. Connan is the loveliest.
Joey Bada$$ for The Fly cover, November Issue
That's a strong cover huh. Well worth the wait, those hours spent outside the 100 Club's back door at the end of October for 90 seconds with the man himself, before he got bored and wandered off. Fuck it though, right? I mean, I got the shots and made this shit hole look like a lavish studio. In your face, world.
Yuck
Really wanted to get 4 faces of a band into a portrait frame without having to shout 'bundle!' or 'pile on!' or ask them repeatedly to 'get in a bit, like you're friends, that's it, *raises camera* actually, a bit more, sorry' merely to ensure your picture then looks exactly the same as everyone else's. Yuck are great and Jonny Rogoff (middle) is very much the focus so you know, this all made great sense to me. And you, loyal reader, I hope.
Haim for The Fly cover, October issue
So this was the cover. Hard light shooting is just such a fad that won't go away will it? I'm almost disappointed that I lit this in such an annoyingly popular way but they looked great and it worked well. Sometimes, why resist? It seems like now EVERYONE shoots like this the backlash will head back to softness and beauty so it won't be long til loveliness can resume. Phew.