So it’s been a while since I lasted update this. Like everyone else, I have been spending much of the last couple of years trying to avoid the virus. Some of the stuff I’ve been doing since I covered Glastonbury back in 2019 includes my work with The Bob Marley Saachi exhibition and The Postman, The Bob Marley Musical, and the incorporation of the late Jean-Bernard Sohiez photo archive into Urbanimage.
The Bob Marley One Love Experience
This wasn’t my exhibition. It was the brainchild Of Cedella Marley and the family. An exhibition immersing audiences on a journey through his lifestyle, passions, influences, and enduring legacy. I did contribute many of the photographs and collaborated with the Brighton art collective The Postman a cool bunch of people creating some great street art. It opened at London’s Saatchi Gallery this February and is now set to tour the world. View a short video from the opening HERE
GLASTONBURY
I talked myself into photographing some of the 2019 Glastonbury Festival .. It’s been a very long time since I was last at a rock festival, so I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Ran into lots of old friends and even discovered some amazing new (to me) artists. A biblical multitude of people, many stages and so many artists. I tried to plan and shoot just a few but often my efforts were thwarted by uncooperative artists. I thought Kyle Minogue might be fun to cover but she had a very strictly controlled closed photo pit. No doubt fearful of all those 600 mm zoom lenses magnifying any cosmetic flaws.
Then came the rush to cover a rather odd but visually interesting Japanese girl band called Baby Metal. They were sold to me as a sort of Manga meets a heavy metal version of the spice girls. Anyway, it wasn’t to be, the band’s management wanted all photographers to sign a contract giving control of the pictures to the band’s management, and this was only moments before the band came onstage.
Talk about signing contracts under duress .. i didn’t sign so this is all I got as Baby Metal tries and escape the photographers.
Thankfully most of the artists were relaxed and enjoyed the photographer’s attention. MILEY CYRUS that stadium superstar actually complained to security as the photographers in the pit were ushered out after the regulation first three numbers. The photographers even dressed up as superheroes. Miley insisted that they should all be allowed back in for the 8th, 9th, and 10th, etc. songs. Her show was great .. what a cool lady.
The show I enjoyed most was the surprisingly good Billie Eilish performing on Glastonbury’s Other Stage. The biggest audience ever for this stage and the crowd knew all the lyrics. Thousands of people singing along to “Bad Guy” a bizarre mega karaoke.
And of course, STORMZY headlining the Pyramid stage with his Banksy-designed stab vest. Stormzy became the first black British solo artist to headline Glastonbury in its 49-year history. Stormzy wore the vest as a comment on Britain’s knife-crime crisis and racial inequality in the criminal justice system. The show was an urban spectacular.
Some of the other notable acts I photographed over the three days include a new outfit called DARKMATTA performing on the Glade stage, The brilliant Irish rock band HOZIER, The legendary JOHNNIE MARR, a serious-looking LIAM GALLAGHER, a not quite working for LAURYN HILL as she struggled with technical issues, a lovable and exciting MAGGIE ROGERS, a not very good GEORGE EZRA, a reasonable VAMPIRE WEEKEND and the British Synth-Pop band YEARS AND YEARS. To finish check out the Glastonbury 2019 audience and atmosphere GALLERY Photos by myself and Rosie Temple.
BASS CULTURE
Talking about the success of Stormzy and Grime music our exhibition celebrating British Black Music – 70 years since Windrush and 50 years of reggae opened at the end of last year. We spent most of last year building this exhibition. If you missed it check HERE
GRACE JONES .. Back in 2016
2016 and I flew from Exeter airport to Dublin for this show. The gigs were being filmed as part of an upcoming documentary about the 68-year-old Jamaican Diva. The project, involving Irish production companies Blinder Films and Sligoville, had been on the go for over ten years under the direction of Sophie Fiennes, the sister of actors Ralph and Joseph. The film was shown on the BBC in 2017 and I last saw Grace at Goldeneye Jamaica in 2018.
RANKING ROGER
The late great RANKING ROGER was the enigmatic frontman of the multicultural band THE BEAT, representing the youthful and joyous sound of the post-punk 2 Tone movement. Rogers book “I Just Can’t Stop It” and his untimely death in 2019 generated a lot of activity around the Beat. Urbanimage supplied photos for the book as well as numerous online and print magazines and features.
Visit the BEAT GALLEY and then Check out the BOOK
DREADZONE
They headlined our mini-festival close to home in Bridport. It was called The Jurassic Fields Festival. Jurassic because this is The Jurassic Coast .. dinosaurs and fossils, etc. I have known Greg and Leo from back in the Big Audio Dynamite days. Click on the image to view the gallery.
QUADROPHENIA
Researched and supplied many of the images for Simon Wells new book on Quadrophenia. The 1979 classic mod movie loosely based on The Who’s 1973 rock opera of the same name, directed by Frank Roddam and starring Phil Daniels as the protagonist ‘Jimmy’.
The book is heavily illustrated throughout and with a selection of previously unpublished images and released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the film.
THE CLASH
Lots of activity around The Clash. Colin Coulter’s new book on The Clash and Belfast during the troubles “Working For The Clampdown”. A Clash exhibition at the ONO Gallery in Bologna Italy and a picture book by Martin Popoff “The Clash – All the Albums – All the Songs”.
For more information on The Clash Archive and for some of the stories behind these photosessions visit The Clash Story
Adrian Boot Photography News and Updates 2019