Catching up on past events, for all you poor suckers who missed out on the wonder-night that was LeithLate2012, come hop on board the pineapple express on a tour of Leith Walk ( no bumbling Seth Rogen thankfully )
LeithLate is an arts and culture event that takes place in the best place in Edinburgh at the best time of day. Its in the name. Bars, cafes, tailors, barbers, shops, studios, galleries and community centers all hold their doors open into the evening and host individual exhibitions that showcase the work of local artists across multiple art formats. It is a veritable treasure map of an evening with sculpture, photography, design, cinema but most importantly, music. There are sets of local musicians playing the length of the walk in so many venues to soundtrack the proceedings.
Enjoy, count my cameos and try to imagine it’s summer.
LEITHLATE 2012 from eoin carey on Vimeo.
Feet Up from eoin carey on Vimeo.
Leith Late 2012 from SUMMERHALL TV on Vimeo.
Still reeling from two mega hectic weeks working for the EIFF, I was very fortunate to be asked by The Skinny to cover last weekends notorious, heady musical extravaganza. The following deluge of imagery represents the experience best. As a photographer, a music festival is one great stampede from stage to stage without pause. Me and Emily were part of the great three day media convoy that crossed the arena from gig to gig literally soaking, and I include every liquid you can imagine, it up. We saw everything, and what a bounty of footage I have at the end. Be sure to check out The Skinny’s online T gallery and be patient for next month’s issue to get the full rundown and reviews of the event in full.
The T is a festival on the largest scale. It boasts a line up that is impossible to see all of, even for a team of 4. All I can offer is a sweet scented sample of what is only a pungent celebration of bassey, messy, debaucherous abandon on a national level. Total sensation overload, photographing T in the Park is one seamless onslaught from Friday to Sunday. All my festival highlights are tied to my pictures, so get ready for the motherload. I would love to hear your favorite experiences and music from the weekend and see if my images have done it justice. Please, light up the comments section below.
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| Florence + The Machine |
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| Django Django |
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| Nicola Benedetti |
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| Professor Green |
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| Simple Minds |
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| The Stone Roses |
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| New Order |
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| Miles Kane |
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| Olly Murs |
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| Example |
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| Jessie J |
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| The View |
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| Happy Mondays |
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| Emili Sandé |
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| Miaoux Miaoux |
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| Admiral Fallow |
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| Alabama Shakes |
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| We Are Augustines |
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| Bombay Bicycle Club |
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| Capitals |
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| Chris Devotion and The Expectations |
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| Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds |
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| The Wailers |
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| Rita Ora |
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| Keane |
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| SubFocus |
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| The Horrors |
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| Kasabian |
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| Elbow |
Lets hope I can hose myself down in time for next year
The National Theatre of Scotland are re-imagining a literally wicked classic in the most wicked way. Currently in rehearsal at Tramway in Glasgow, this dark, modernised rendition of Shakespeare is set against the backdrop of a ward in a psychiatric asylum. It’s sole inmate, none other than Alan Cumming, channels each of the main antagonists in beautiful, tortured monologues, echoing the darkest elements of the script in the shadowy, schizophrenic milieu.
Exciting stuff indeed. I was delighted to lend my interpretation to the rehearsal production images. It is always thrilling to see something monumental in development, and the scale of the set, rich with decayed, rusty detail, really appeals to the dark side of my image making. Images have already been used in an early review by the Scotsman.
For me personally, it has really blown off some cobwebs from the days I studied Macbeth for the marathon trials of Leaving Cert English in Ireland. Try as you might at that tender age when all that would make you happy in the world would be to barely pass a subject, let alone engage with the material. Something with as fresh and contemporary a treatment would have been just the ingredient for my young jaded mind. Still though, its not too late. Better get my tickets!
Check out the Trailer for the show below.
Macbeth – Trailer from National Theatre of Scotland on Vimeo.
So this is where we are. One helluva round trip coming up!
Just back in Scotland after a week of diamond weather and amazing shooting in Kohler, Wisconsin, working alongside Hamish Campbell and the Kohler team on some new campaign imagery for The American Club Resort. Just seen the weather report in Edinburgh for the rest of the week – Take me back now!
Back on the ground, and still a little jelly legged, here is a run down of my work over the last few weeks.
I was invited to cover the Write Here Festival at the Traverse Theatre last month, a series of workshops and events that support script development in theatre writing. Among the discussions and round-table activities I was also offered a privileged role in the rehearsal of Tim Price’s Demos (complete with gloves and scarf) that wrapped up the festival.
I have recently started working with the multitalented Scottish Chamber Orchestra who asked me to produce some new images for the SCO Chorus.
I was also invited to the Usher Hall to capture the performance and flower presentation of Nicola Benedetti with the SCO for their performance of The Four Seasons.
Events Consultants Scotland asked me along to get busy behind the scenes at the annual dinner of the Scottish Friendly Assurance at The Glasgow Central Hotel. What I thought was set to be sophisticated, calm black tie evening, soon became a full blown party thanks to Incognito Artists. Table dancing, bouquet swinging and chorus chanting all before desert.
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There is a lot to be said for the cold and the rain to bring out a darker side of the imagination. Mid May, and I was expecting a slow incline of daylight and a steady blooming of heat. We should all know better. Five degrees and a lead sky. The Arctic howl of December through our clothes, a flowing mire beneath our jaded shoes. The worst shock to the system is the disappointment, that we have to wait in suspense for our summer to ever arrive.
The upshot is that I started touring my archive of the images I took over Winter for some consolation on how bad it can get. We need no reminding of the dark once the sun is baking our pavements again so I am happy to post them here for now. Tragically enough, these images of a very sombre Edinburgh Haar are only about a month old. Scotland, as ever, defies the definition of Winter.
Down in Leith it is business as usual. A busy football Saturday, pubs rammed. The opposing ends of Hibernian Stadium invisible to each other through a thick wall of white, according to reports. Shops’ shutters up, dogs to be walked, traffic lights green, football practice at 10, paper supplements, bus stop queue, Kirkgate pigeons, shopping bags at the bar, traffic lights red. And all the while, a heavy silence. Like holding the world on mute as the white envelopes everything. I walk around and see some of the most banal things blown out of proportion. A woman and her dog, burnished like two spots of ink on canvas. A flock of seagulls, noiseless from nowhere, bluster limply overhead like debris in a gale. A father and daughter emerge kicking a football in the Links. Shrouded in a cavern of grey, their breath on the air like coal trains as they run directionless, only to be swallowed again into nothing.
And a solitary figure, who seems more at home in the blankness than anyone. Hi Rab:-p
Last week saw the annual musical mélange of Wide Days descend on Edinburgh at Teviot Row. It is a two day consortium of speakers, panels, workshops, showcases and of course, blaring music: a hot bed of music industry knowledge to serve the uninitiated.
I was invited to cover the main events of the day-time panels and discussions. As the proverbial fly on the wall, it is hard not to pick up more than just photos. There was a lot of very solid knowledge from very sharp and sympathetic minds. Gems even that I could take on board for my own approach to creativity. First that it is a business, given, but second that it is important to share the workload and get hard hitting feedback when you can. Creativity is not a path to be gone alone, and there was a great vibe about the event that lit some flames and got everyone’s minds on building up the community.
Its not everyday the photographer gets a mention! When a picture is worth 1,000 words (on the old exchange rates anyway), there tends to be little editorial real-estate for the creative process behind the scenes. And rightly so, articles can be in depth enough without needing to know about the textile content of the backdrop materials and nasal shadowing of the subject. But interestingly, the interview and the photoshoot are almost as enjoyable as the finished product.
This flattering quote is from Julian Corrie in his New Blood feature in this month’s Skinny. The shoot in question was arranged by the creative folks at The Skinny at the Glasgow Science Centre. If you haven’t visited or don’t know anything about it, be sure of this: it is a world of fun. You could end up having too good a time. And so it went. Legging it through wonderful, interactive floors, setting up images at instruments, mirrors and displays and getting distracted by all the toys. Me and the staff bombarded Julian with sponge balls and built him a fort out of tetris foam blocks. Hardly what you can call “effort”, when you’re splitting your sides.
Here’s a little recap on some live music I have covered over the last month. First off is a solo set of esoteric loudness from electronica pioneers Silver Apples, live at Mono as part of the Glasgow Film Festival.
I shot the set of melodic drone masters Earth at the Caves a little while back. Clock their review for The Skinny here if you missed out, it does them supreme justice.
I Teamed up with Edinburgh musicians Hiva Oa to produce their publicity stills at the start of the year. It wouldn’t do us justice to say it was just a really good shoot. Apart from everything working out to plan, it was no sweat on all fronts. This could almost be a 6-step prescription for the perfect shoot.
First We shot in Leith. Well of course we did.
Second We used a great location with tonnes of possibility. We weren’t shy of creative
ideas for a second. There were surfaces, bookshelves, tables and wallpaper,
quite literally, to the ceiling.
Third We kept on the move. We took our gear to the stairs, we went outside, we tried
loads of space and made the most of natural light. We used the props we found
and didn’t weigh ourselves down. Just keeping it really simple.
Fourth We kept it really simple. Sort of. We lit a temple worth of incense to haze out our room. We even bunged an old fluorescent tan lamp into action to do wild
things to the shadows and spread the most eerie shade of green over everything.
Sweet! (but blinding) Things got so out of hand I even shot a roll of film.
Fifth We wrapped up and had a celebrated with a crate of wine and fell into the trap of
swapping an inexhaustible supply of YouTube videos. Basically when the wine is out,
you are on to a winner.
Wednesday saw the launch of the programme for the EIF’s 2012 Festival. I was invited back to shoot the launch photocall and file to the press.
As Spring is starting to shake the limbs of the city to life again, I had it forgotten after such a drawn out winter, that the festival is officially on the horizon. This winter in particular was so grey, I had just accepted there would never be a summer again. But now that the proof is all around (and I went to the shop in a t-shirt this morning just to check), I can’t but get excited for August.
The EIF programme is particularly exciting this year and I cannot hide just a tinge of jealousy that I won’t be on the front lines again this year. Pick up a brochure from the Hub and while you are at it, take a final look at my exhibition EIF: The Big Picture.
