I love taking photographs, it actually makes me happy. I love photographing people’s weddings – it’s a long hard day (and a long hard week following it, doing the post processing!) but capturing that special day is a very rewarding thing.
I love taking portraits of people: there’s nothing more interesting than a person, pretty much any person (even the ones I disagree with and couldn’t think of a single positive word to say to). But, although my love of photography goes back to a very early age – my love of music goes back to the womb (and beyond!)
Music was all around me from the day I was brought home from the hospital. My dad had been a lead guitarist in several Leeds-based bands in the early- to late-60s and he was always cranking out the tunes through speakers that were way too big for the room in which they resided. Through the 70s and 80s he listened to everything from Pink Floyd and AC/DC to Prince and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (his love of music both old and new still persists – back in the early 90s, he even bought the debut Rage Againt the Machine album before I did!!).
I went to my first concert with my dad when I was 16 (Eric Clapton at the NEC, on the Journeyman tour), and spent the last few years of the 80s and the early 90s going to as many gigs as possible with a small bunch of equally dedicated friends. Some that stand out in my mind as truly memorable events from this era include Alice Donut at the Duchess of York in Leeds (sadly now long closed down), Nirvana at Leeds Polytechnic (just after the release of Bleach), and (on my 18th birthday in 1990!) Red Hot Chili Peppers at Leeds University (still the sweatiest gig I’ve ever experienced!)
Since then I’ve been to hundreds of gigs in dozens of cities and countries (and I’ve even played a fair few myself!) Music continues to inspire and comfort me on a daily basis (and fortunately, it does the same for my other half – when planning our wedding the music to be played on the day was quite possibly the second most important thing on the To Do list, after the dress (and yes, I have to say that!) ).
When I was first getting into photography (in the late 90s), it was those photographers who dedicated themselves to music who really captured my imagination (mostly Mick Rock, Glenn Friedman, Annie Leibovitz and Anton Corbijn). So it is that I now find myself wanting to venture more into Music Photography as a means of combining my two great creative loves. I feel like I’m ready now to do justice to the music and to the bands playing the music. If only I’d had a camera with me at those three gigs in Leeds I mentioned earlier… Ah well: BRING ON THE ROCK!
So, if you’re in a band or are a solo performer and you’d like some new promo photos – or you’d like me to come to your gig to shoot you live – just get in touch via the Contact form. Remember, it’s all on a TFCD basis at the moment so there’s nothing to lose! You give me your time, and I give you a CD of the final images – everyone’s a winner! 
