I stumbled on some photos while I was organising my libraries recently. They are good reminders of what's happened in the last few years in terms of my relatively short music photography career.
John Fairhurst & Joe Strouzer at the Left Bank
The first photo was taken at the Left Bank in Bristol. This turned out to be a significant moment for me. It was the first time I'd taken photographs of John Fairhurst. In fact this was the first time I'd seen him play and I was instantly hooked and became a fan of his dirty blues style right there. This shot was taken with my Leica M6 camera loaded with Kodak Tri-X film.
John and I hit up an instant rapport. He told me how he's a fan of 70s music and analogue audio, and how the old analogue photography tied in with that. I shared the same feelings and that was it.
First exhibition space at the Kingsdown Wine Vaults
Photographing local bands gathered pace and soon I had my first dedicated exhibition space at the Kingsdown Wine Vaults. The landlord was called Philo. I had become a friend of his and a big fan of his band, the Montgomerys, and he helped me set up the exhibition.
Then, last summer I got a great opportunity to photograph the Montgomerys at the Grillstock festival in Bristol. The band invited me on stage to take some pictures and I jumped at the chance.
On stage with the Montgomerys at Grillstock 2014
Over all this time, there were two bands I was dedicating most of my time to: The Montgomerys and John Fairhurst and his band. Finally, my connection with John led to an opportunity to shoot his band at this year's Glastonbury festival. The first night of the festival included a set on Hell Stage in Shari La in front of a crowd of 2000. It was a great experience.
John Fairhurst on the Hell Stage at Glastonbury 2015
From starting to take music related photographs to this point hasn't taken a long time in relative terms, but it feels like it's taken a lifetime to find a place where I feel I belong. There's still a long way to go and lots of ambitions to fulfil, but the path has been chosen. Looking through the tangled undergrowth up ahead I can see other footprints in the sand, but I have bigger feet.