Laura Welsh for The Fly
Nice shot, right? OK, well, you know, I liked it and it's my blog after all. More images and vibes here. Lovely shoot and loads of looks, really stunning.
Daughn
Feeling your tech/country deepness? Try this handsome fella.
MORE JANELLE MONAE
Devastatingly awesome.
MORE MORE MONAE
Cover image for July Fly 2013, fyi.
The best person in THE WORLD. FACT.
Oh man, I've loved Janelle Monae's incredible look and wonderfully fun but cool music for what feels like an age, and then BOOM in walks the opportunity to shoot her for The Fly magazine. JJ the editor flagged it up and I was all over it from the off, obviously. The greatest aspect for me was working out and then selling in the idea of this image to her team (the inspiration behind it being a combination of the iconography of Elvis, Charlie Chaplin and MJ) and once they were onside we were away. We had 90 mins including interview, video piece and 3 stills set ups, so time was tight but Janelle (best person in the world, fact) nailed it in no time. You can probably tell I loved it and I hope the shots above illustrate this. Loads of thanks to Tom Bunning and Tom Sharp for their kind assistance in producing my bit.
Savages cover for Fly June 2013
So I've been shooting loads of other stuff but it's all embargoed, which is a bit shit in terms of the unrelenting self-promo one is constantly forced to churn out. Am of course incredibly proud of my work for The Fly magazine, it's just that I do shoot other stuff too but it invariably has a big time lag prior to release and by then I've quite commonly long forgotten about it OR clients choose images that I wouldn't put up on here - making it the end of the road for that material, for me anyway. However, here's Savages to cheer up the tone of this rather dull post. Oh. I can only apologise.
These New Puritans, June Fly 2013
Jack and George back to The Fly's glamorous courtyard. They've a strong handle on their look so you know, it's an easy composition and therefore a simple and superclean, diffused lighting set up. Their music sounds heavy with big swashes of oomph all over it. Actually, might bin off lensmanship for penmanship, wordplay really is loads easier.
Savages for The Fly
Trendy punchy lighting for a sharp looking singer called Jehnny, Savages.
Kurt Vile for the bloody lovely reworked Fly magazine
Hiya. So The Fly has relaunched with a perfect bound, slightly larger format on really nice new paper stock which complimented this Kurt shot really well. The Fly's website will tell you where you can get one. I got my mates in, Tom Bunning and Tom Andrew, and they have both shot solid portraits for it and it feels refreshed. There's a new enthusiasm about the magazine, from both outside and in and I'm still very proud (hence my constant shitting on about it) to be part of this, after a very long involment. Frankly, most sensible snappers would have long since wandered off but I'm a stubborn stalwart. It's one of my more attractive qualities. Don't get off the fucking bus, especially here in Helsinki.
Child of Lov for May Fly
Another supercool session with Cole Williams aka Child of Lov. Follow him why don't you. His music is heavy and good people like it.
Rainy's sensitive side for The Fly May issue
Listen to her music and agree with me please. God I hope she makes it big, it would really help me career-wise. I'm not sure these shots are career defining but I really love them, hence the stream below. It's such a great feeling when someone steps in and gets the tone of what you're trying to do immediately and then doubles, quadruples, the success of the shoot and all your effort. That's the beauty in this job I think.
Rainy 3
Range is what she has. Rainy can do all the looks.
Rainy 2
Rainy Milo. Please credit me if you take this. Thanks.
Rainy Milo for The Fly 1
Current obsession, it'll pass but will enjoy it while it's amongst my everything. Incredible to shoot. Beautiful music. More above.
Ministry of Stories take over No.10
So this WAS fun. We went down to Number 10 for a ministerial takeover where the ministers of the Ministry of Stories gave new roles (eg Minister for 90s R+B) to some MPs that were up for getting involved a bit. It was magical and the junior ministers were such fun and managed the situation so perfectly. Heartwarming.
Ekow Eshun at HofStB
Bug is a cultural collective, who last night hosted a thoughtful, energetic, expansive discussion about the hidden meaning of shoes at the House of St Barnabas. Ekow here lead the talk and I shot 50 guests' footwear on a plinth for projection during the show. Marc Hare's ten minutes were enthralling and I can see why the word charisma is never far from his name, when you search for him on your internet.
Ruen Brothers press shot
Lovely fellas the Ruen Brothers, I can tell you.
Marco Reus for PUMA
Hitting some more big names with PUMA, enjoying huge press coverage with it all of over Europe too. Prior to the shoot we were kindly treated to some hospitality at the Dortmund vs Schalke darby - a bloody huge local rivalry with the most astonishing atmosphere. It was like a banging gig, where Schalke were the Chilli Peppers playing a homecoming show to 78000 of their most extremely dedicated fans. Bloody magic, with currywurst.
Roman Weidenfeller for PUMA
I have never, ever, been colder on a shoot. The temperature plummeted in Dortmund (I blame the weather) and the snow fell and we set up and waited. Moan, blub, winge and gripe. Poor, poor me. But Roman was supercool and toughed it out with us, and we nailed some really strong shots. Shooting friendly people that believe in portraiture being participatory can really help out when the elements are trying to actually kill you.