Yola

Celtic Connections 2025

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PHOTOGRAPHING THE 2025 CELTIC CONNECTIONS FESTIVAL

1,500 artists, 40 nationalities, 300 events, 24 venues and 18 days… That’s just some of the stats for this year’s Celtic Connections festival which wrapped up on Sunday. I wrote about working on last year’s outing and how much I enjoyed being a part of it, so you can imagine my delight at being asked to document it again this year. It was a very intense 3 weeks and I’m still catching up on sleep but my heart is full. You can find some of my favourite shots from the past few weeks below:

GEAR
Nikon Z8 x 2
Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8
Nikkor Z 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters

Best of 2021

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2021 was the year where everything went back to normal. Oh, no, hold on… Yeah, perhaps not so much. I shouldn’t complain really cause, all in all, it was a full and interesting year for me work-wise - I started doing more and more video work (even got a drone despite my earlier proclamations of never going near one), got to collaborate with some interesting people and lined up a few exciting projects for 2022 (Covid have mercy). Still, have to admit, I’m feeling pretty done in by 2021. I look at, say, an image of Kathleen MacInnes taken in June (see below), and feel like years - not merely months - have passed since that session. Is it just me? Anyway, here are 12 of my personal favourites taken in the past 12 months. Hope you like them too and I hope 2022 is kind to you.

Oh, and in May, I had an absolute blast in Brighton filming this music video for Allan Jay. You don’t know what chaos can look like until you’ve got 14 drag queens, 4 dancers and 2 dogs to deal with on set!

And here’s music I enjoyed this past year:

ALBUMS OF 2021
Prioritise Pleasure Self Esteem
Magic Still Exists Agnes
Stand For Myself Yola
Deacon serpentwithfeet
Crooked Machine Róisín Murphy
Pink Noise Laura Mvula
star-crossed Kacey Musgraves
We Are Jon Batiste
Collapsed in Sunbeams Arlo Parks
30 Adele

SONGS OF 2021
I Do This All The Time Self Esteem
24 Hours Agnes
Hot N Heavy Jessie Ware
breadwinner Kacey Musgraves
Dancing Away In Tears Yola
Got Me Laura Mvula
Right On Time Brandi Carlile
Fellowship serpentwithfeet
Too Good Arlo Parks
Love and Hate in a Different Time Gabriels