Rathdrum, County Wicklow.
I’m back on the mainland for ten days. It’s lovely.
Balader à Belleville on Bastille day
Phantom Islands
Rouzbeh Rashidi and Jann Clavadetscher filming on Inis Mór, August 2017.
I’m very proud to have been a producer on Rouzbeh Rashidi's experimental feature film “Phantom Islands” and am very glad to share that it is now available on video on demand to stream or download. The film is like a beautiful, disturbing dream about travelling to the islands of Ireland, and it went on to be screened at over thirty festivals and cinemas all around the world.
To watch Phantom Islands, please visit here: https://bit.ly/2tHeH0w
That’s me on the right, on top of the Black Fort.
The First Irish Gay Song
The Radiators photographed in the Dublin docklands in 1989. L-R Pete Holidai, Mark Megaray, Philip Chevron and Jimmy Crashe.
“Under Clery’s Clock” was Ireland’s first openly gay-themed song. It was written by Philip Chevron, the lead singer and guitarist with Ireland’s greatest unsung punk band, The Radiators from Space.
I loved their album “Ghostown”, but only got to see them play once before they broke up in 1981 and Philip moved to London, later joining the Pogues. They reformed briefly in the late ‘80’s to play an Aids benefit in Dublin (I was there) and to record the song. Steve Averill* (a.k.a Steve Rapid - the band’s original singer, and the first person to hire me as a photographer) was designing the single cover and we found a crumbling warehouse down the docks for a location. Though I’d worked with many bands by then, I was particularly thrilled to be shooting the Radiators.
Cover shot for the re-issue of “Ghostown”. You can see the rain in the background.
“Under Clery’s Clock”, described as “an exquisitely haunting lament about two teenage boys who arrange a rendezvous under the Dublin landmark of the title” was a coming out for Philip as well. Sadly he died in 2013, but I think part of his spirit will be back on the Dublin streets later today as the biggest ever Pride march passes Clery’s clock on O’Connell Street.
*Steve is currently posting a great series of pictures and stories of the early Dublin rock scene on his Instagram.
Mellow Tonics
I had great fun photographing the Mellow Tonics choir rehearsing and performing in the beautiful chapel of the Centre Culturel Irlandais - they do a fantastic version of The Stunning’s “Brewing Up A Storm”.
You can see more portraits of performers in this gallery.
CHAUD CHAUD CHAUD
How Paris feels at the moment.
Chilis drying on my balcony
Cooling off in Place de la République
Joshua Tree National Park
San Fernando Valley
The chaud must go on...very much looking forward to this weekend’s shoot in relatively balmy Antwerp for Cara Magazine .
Intimacy
So much of what makes a good portrait comes from a feeling of intimacy between photographer and subject. I didn’t have to try very hard with these two old friends, just turned away for a moment to load the camera and when I turned back they were naked. I love the passion in the picture.
Angel
The very lovely actor and singer Angel Hannigan. She knew my mother from Nick's coffee shop in Ranelagh, and sang an absolutely beautiful version of Nick Cave's "Into My Arms" at the funeral.
Chat tremblant
Le prince de la cour
Heel, Boy!
An outtake from one of the shoots in Dublin last week.
Two Irish Artists in Paris
Aindrias De Staic, storyteller, actor and musician.
Macdara Smith, artist and musician.
These two beauties...
Alicia Ni Ghrainne and Michael Kinirons outside Baltimore, West Cork.
…are getting married in Baltimore today, and I’m very sorry I can’t be there. Wishing them much love and happiness together.
Today's office
Photographing Colm Toibin earlier today as part of a series of portraits for the Gate theatre.
Irish Times article here
Selfie
Via Aindreas de Staic
Via Macdara Smith
A Dirty, Sexy City
At least according to Walter Benjamin, who described Marseille as “the world’s wickedest port.” I was only there for two days so didn't get to see much wickedness, but the city definitely feels much more exotic than anywhere else I’ve been in France. I saw some great art in Mucem and got lost in tiny side streets that could have been in Tangiers, and met some very interesting people like Dirk, a Belgian screenwriter and ex punk who wrote this piece of spiky New Wave that years later was used in a Prada campaign.
I’ll be back.
Landed
My first ever camera was a Polaroid, but it wasn’t as fancy as this.
Saw this at the Brocante in Rue de Bretagne today, and couldn’t resist. They don’t make the film for it any more, but I have some squirrelled away back in Dublin.
KWOO
Kwoo photographed in Dublin, May 2019, using this filter.
Last time I was back in Dublin I did some portraits of my neighbour Kwoo. She’s a poet, animator, performer, resident DJ for The Demented Goddess and all-round interesting person. You can follow her on Twitter here, and hear her mixes here.
Caoimhe photographed in Dublin, May 2019
Back on the mat
Haven’t been to Aikido for ages, so found a dojo in Paris and went last night. Despite a minor injury* and the struggle to understand the mix of Japanese and French, it was fantastic. Am aching all over today ( a friend calls it Ow-kido) but it’s very much worth it. I’ll be back.
*a sprained toe, thankfully mine. It would be very déclassé to injure a fellow student during my first visit to a new dojo. On the upside, I did learn a new French phrase**
PS: This is great - a demonstration of jiu-jitsu, an earlier form of Aikido, by the absolutely delightful Miss May Whitley and her bandit friend Mr. Charles Cawkell.
** “Mon orteil est un peu blessé”
Back on the Mainland
I’m going to be working in Dublin for the week of May 27th, if anyone would like me to shoot for them let me know.
Heroes and Villains
It’s great to see when somebody I’ve done a portrait of is in the news for all the right reasons.
Tom Kennedy, photographed in Dingle for the So Far book. More pictures here.
Sometimes it’s for other reasons, however.
Rolf Harris photographed for the New Musical Express, 80’s.
Try as I might, I couldn’t get past his well-worn cheeky chappie persona. Then I asked him to take off his glasses. There was only a brief moment before he put them back on and started gurning again, but it was long enough to see a very different side of him.
“There is a Jekyll and Hyde nature to Rolf Harris”- Sasha Wass QC, during Harris’s trial.