I always wanted to be a rock photographer

As a kid I wanted to be a Rolling Stone photographer, an actor or a forensic psychiatrist. The forensic psychiatrist thing dropped back to an ongoing but low-key fascination with the gorey and morbid, but the first two have stayed, if a little altered (it doesn't have to be for Rolling Stone and I'm happier as a performer than an actor), as the true yearnings of my heart.

My friends, The Suitcase Royale (guest-starring the gorgeous girl in the headdress - Simoncee Page Jones), had an album launch in September and I got pole position, side-stage to photograph it. There were a lot of us there with cameras but I didn't stop shooting from go to whoa, getting joyously back into the feel of seeing a fantastic band through a crystal clear lense. With holidays upon me I finally had time to do a little work on what I got (it's pretty preliminary processing but bear with me).

Yep, I still want to be a rock photographer. Who wouldn't? Best position in the house for amazing bands, the chance to photograph vibrant and creative people who are radiating energy, and the boffin-ish happiness of pouring over them afterwards as your brain plays its way back through the set. Shazam, sign me up!

Review time

Hiya.

Yep, I'm finally following through and posting what's going to be shown for my final review for this year, and for my first ever visual arts exhibition.

These pictures are of my friends The Suitcase Royale and The Caravan of Love. This documentary/portraiture project is ongoing and will expand to include other groups and individuals I have the privilige to work alongside. I hope it will last my lifetime as much as I hope my lifetime continues to include performance and these wonderful, inspiring people.

my ideal studio...if money and reality were no object

yep, i've been slack lately. it has been a bit quiet on the western front blog-wise, but only coz i've been doing a show. it's going nicely, thanks. i promise i'll be back to speed as soon as this week is out. or at least revving up to get back to speed. all things come in time. except extra time to sleep...

in answer to the class question - what would my idea studio be like, well:

Something with plenty of space to move things around and set things up, preferably with a few really great architectural features that you could use in shots. my preferred architectural period is art deco, so something like the above would be grand.

I really like wallpaper murals (my favourite is the palm trees and the setting sun) and i'm a big fan of backdrops of all varieties - oldschool painted ones from something like a gilbert and sullivan, massive paintings, walls of grafitti and paste-ups, and, of course, the kitscher options. So I'd like a hefty collections of backdrops, props, ephemera and lovely old furniture...oh, and a really great old Ford with bench seats (i never get tired of photographing those). So I guess that would be a sets and props store out the back. Let's throw in plenty of costume pieces and some beautiful old tungsten lights for good measure.

Last but not least, if I'm really going hog-wild, let's finish it off. I'd like it to be a space I can live in, with as much natural light as possible, as many windows of frosted or old glass as possible (for the softer light quality) and a library full of books of all kinds - art books, historical research, some lovely old tomes of engravings and medieval anatomical drawings. This picture below is of the Dublin University Library, my mecca of libraries (less for the content, although i'm sure that's awesome, and more for the look)...and would make a fabulous place to take pictures as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight I proffer to you a performative response

A lack of words can say so much

...or just leave a big, gaping hole...

Some older stuff...

Clothes and styling: Georgia Day

Model: Clare Reynolds

The beginnings of this semester

This semester I plan to document my community as much as I can, as well as organising dedicated shoots with people to really get some great shots.  It's early days, but I'm already enjoying photographing these wonderfully talented people.

For a little fun

These are publicity shots for my upcoming Fringe show.  I'm terrible at cutting and pasting, but I hope they're good for a little giggle.

Pop Response Pop Pop Response

Bron always wanted to be Super Ted when she grew up.  As she got older and stronger, and more confident in her talents she realised that a spotty alien hardly ever came down from space to imbue people or toys with special powers.  Bron took the issue into her own crafty fingers.