NEWS
Where, when, why, what...

11 March 2010
Deja-vu at the O2

OK, so last night's shoot felt rather familar. Not only had I shot The Stereophonics several times before, but the last time I shot the band it was at the very same venue - the O2 in east London. Well, at least I knew what to expect - which made a nice change - and as a result the shoot was rather easy and straight forward. My next shoot will be anything but straight forward and easy and I'll make sure to tell you all about it next time. You have been warned...



8 March 2010
Two at the O2

'Two for the price of one' or 'Buy one, get one free' was the name of the game yesterday when Lily Allen and Dizzee Rascal performed at the O2 together. Well, they didn't actually perform together (or did they?) - they each played their own set. Having said that, I'm sure Lily was probably the main attraction which is why Dizzee performed first - giving the impression he was in fact supporting her. Either way, it was an enjoyable enough shoot. Dizzee did his usual thing of running around on stage so shooting him wasn't particularly easy - and Lily did pretty much the same thing but at a much slower pace. Check out some of the photos of them below...



4 MARCH 2010
Photo Mode

I've had a good run of shoots over the past week or so - however most of the shots are currently embargoed. Never mind, I'm sure you'll get to see the photos eventually... Until my next 'regular' shoot, I have a new gallery for you to feast your eyes on - Depeche Mode at the O2 from last month.
View the 'Depeche Mode' gallery



24 FEBRUARY 2010
So many photos to show, so little time

OK, I'm severely behind on putting up galleries of the gigs I've shot so you will have to continue making do with a handful of preview shots from each shoot for the time being. On Saturday I had the pleasure of shooting Depeche Mode's final London show at the O2 - it was their third sold-out show at that venue in 3 months and it was also the third time I shot them on this tour. As usual, the show was visually stunning and shooting Dave, Martin and Andrew never gets boring. A couple of days later I headed to Wembley Arena for 30 Seconds to Mars which turned out to be an unexpectedly enjoyable affair...



17 FEBRUARY 2010
Vampires, Weekends, Brixton and me

Week 7, day 2 and it's time to shoot Vampire Weekend's show at Brixton Academy. It's the third time I've shot these guys and as usual they put on an entertaining performance. Here is a quick preview - more to follow soon.



14 FEBRUARY 2010
Sit down!

I'm not a fan of Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck but nevertheless I headed to the O2 yesterday to photograph these two old timers. While Jeff Beck let us shoot from the pit, Clapton had other ideas and we were banished from the pit and had to shoot from the mixing desk at the back of the arena instead. Tickets for the show were around £150, I believe, so the people sitting behind the mixing desk were far from impressed with the 14 photographers standing on a platfrom near the mixing desk and blocking everyone's view behind them. We got approached by a few members of the audience who asked us to sit down (sit down where exactly?) but it wasn't like we had any choice in the matter. I suppose, I would have been just as annoyed if I had shelled out £150 for a ticket but if you were at the gig and couldn't see Mr Clapton for the first 15 minutes of his performance I suggest you take it up with his management. They are the ones who put us there. Believe me, I would have been much happier shooting from the pit where I wouldn't have blocked anyone's view...



12 FEBRUARY 2010
Prophets from the strobe side of life...

Yesterday it was back to Brixton Academy to shoot Lostprophets entertaining their fans. The last time I shot this lot their lightshow was pretty much non-existent - it was strobes on top of strobes on top of even more strobes. Strobetastic if you're into that kind of thing, a nightmare if you are epileptic. Got some decent enough shots of them last night as every now and again there was a bit of light on the band. 'Shame on you' to the girl next to me though who broke the 'no flash' rule and kept snapping away with her speedlight mounted camera. I'm only saying that of course because I had left my speedlight at home otherwise I would've been as shameless as she was...



9 FEBRUARY 2010
It's snowing again...

Yes, the weather in London has turned cold and nasty again and to mark the occasion I stood in the freezing cold for an hour for the opening ceremony of One Young World. I have to admit, as soon as I arrived at the venue which is right next to the River Thames I felt like going home because standing in the freezing cold for a photo call while enduring a snow storm just isn't my style. Luckily, the main shoot actually took place inside the venue and as I was one of the first photographers through the doors, I got a spot at the very front of the stage. One Young World was NOT a music event but it did have a musical component, namely a 2-song performance by Corinne Bailey Rae. Before Corinne performed, however, I had to listen to speeches by Mayor of London Boris Johnson (oh dear), Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Bob Geldof. There was a lot of pointing and grimacing going on (see photos below) but all in all it was actually a pretty interesting evening so it's a good thing I didn't strop out and head home after all.



6 FEBRUARY 2010
It got kinda busy...

Well, January may have been a bit slow to start with but last week it turned mega busy when I shot a series of live shows at the Tabernacle in London: 5 nights, 14 acts - Delphic, White Rabbit, The Cheek [night 1], Miike Snow, I Blame Coco, Alex Gardner [night 2], Midlake, The Kissaway Trail [night 3], Marina + The Diamonds, Goldheart Assembly, Tinashe [night 4], Ellie Goulding, Daisy Dares You, Liam Bailey [night 5] - and almost 20 hours of standing in the same spot. I shall post shots from all the shows here as soon as they are no longer embargoed. In the meantime you can feast your eyes on some Jamie T shots from last night's Brixton Academy show as well as an unseen shot of Muse performing live at the Bercy in Paris in November 2009.

To read more check out the ARCHIVE section of the site...