Tell us about your winning photo…

This shot was taken at The Ritz during Manchester Psych Fest last year, where I was shooting for the festival. It was an excellent but long day of dashing between venues in the Manchester rain, though I made a point of ensuring to catch DEADLETTER, who weren’t on my list of assigned artists to cover. Having seen them play an intense (and very sweaty) set at Psych Fest in 2023, I knew I wanted to catch them again, particularly with the hope of capturing the energy of the crowd and frontman Zac Lawrence’s interactions.

Their show delivered, and I got what I wanted with a number of frenetic action shots, but this photo turned out to be one of my favourites; a sort of “calm before the storm” moment in which Zac had descended from the stage, jumped the barrier and made his way into the middle of the crowd, crouching down and prompting the room to do so with him (shortly before everything would erupt again).

I’ve always felt that moments of stillness between or during songs can be as powerful or interesting as the more conventional gig photos that come to mind. Here, I was fortunate in that at this moment, the scene was unexpectedly brightly-lit, which is not common at all for in-crowd action at shows in my experience! To add, use of camera flash is mostly not permitted at larger venues, meaning in such situations it’s usually near-impossible to get worthwhile photos within the audience if the show lighting is only covering the stage.

I love the calm intensity of the protagonist’s expression, and the contrast with the faces of those around him. For me, the photo has a strange sense of both tension and humour to it. It’s always great to capture people enjoying a show, reacting to whatever’s happening, and this one is a personal highlight from a memorable festival performance.

Tell us about you journey as a music photographer…

Things really began for me with music photography in 2022, after being offered an opportunity to photograph a festival by a promotor who had seen my phone photos from a show and was impressed. I had enjoyed photography generally on a purely casual, recreational level for years prior, but it was this offer which led me to picking up a camera again for the first time in a long time.

I essentially re-learned the basics of using a DSLR camera and editing software, shot a couple of local grassroots shows for practice, then did the festival- it went well, I enjoyed it, and here we are! I’ve since been lucky enough to photograph many artists whose work I adore, and I’m grateful for that!

As a music obsessive whose money mostly disappears into records and concert tickets, after starting properly with music photography, I found myself questioning how I hadn’t gotten into it much earlier! I always loved the idea of my photos being used as album art one day, and that crystalised into a real goal to strive for after beginning to shoot concerts and artist press shots. I’m happy to be able to say that in 2024, I achieved my ambition, with my photography featuring on the sleeves of two separate vinyl releases: Jaye Jayle’s “A Blue Bird Cage” LP, and the Chemtrails 7” single “Miss Anthropocene”.

My current aspiration is to see more of my work out there on physical media, posters, prints…etc. I’m also working on an idea for an exhibition of my concert photography, which I hope will happen at some point this year.

What do you love about music photography?

For all of its challenges (difficult and unpredictable lighting, navigating through lively crowds, three song limits…), concert photography in particular can be incredibly rewarding. To photograph your favourite bands, get THE shot that you visualised against the odds, to capture moments that resonate with fans and artists… all of these things are special. Photographing with the perspective of a fan, I think the greatest compliment people have paid to my work is that it captures for them the feeling of the show, or of the artist’s music.

I love the creative freedom with concert photography, and that two photographers at the same shows can bring two totally different perspectives with their work. Great music makes you feel something that’s unique to you, and I enjoy taking a more impressionistic and stylised approach with my photography a lot of the time.

Where do you usually shoot live music?

I got into music photography because of my love of music, and so I mainly photograph bands and artists I enjoy, wherever that might be! My taste in music is fairly eclectic, but for the most-part falls under the “alternative” umbrella… generally, the moodier and more atmospheric, the better! I’d say my photography is often very stark, stylised and dramatic, so that lends itself to the type of shows I like to shoot. I’ve always enjoyed on-stage theatricality, anything weird or visually interesting, and of course it makes for great subject matter to capture. An unconventional venue is always interesting too, like a church or a cinema!

Over the four years of doing this, I’ve photographed in most venues in Manchester, and a good selection of various others further afield (a gig is always a good excuse for a trip!). I’ve probably shot most regularly at YES and New Century, with a good number of shows at the latter as a house photographer for the venue.