'Here Was The Great Master.'

'I was in awe of Robert Frank. Here was the great master. I couldn't believe that I was able to watch him work for a few days, that I was actually in the room where Robert Frank was loading his camera. He picked up my camera once. I was terrified. He held it. It was like being with God. He said to me, "You can't get every picture." That was comforting advice. You do miss things. You're attached to this machine. To its timing. Things are moving in front of you and you're supposed to capture them, but it's not always possible. Robert Frank didn't seem to be missing anything, though. He was tireless. He never stopped working.'
- Annie Leibovitz, from her book 'At Work'.

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool Portraits;

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool © Michael Robert Williams

A set of my portraits of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool. Their fantastic album 'The Golden Year' is out next week. The build up to its release has been overshadowed by the tragic death of frontman Charles Haddon. It was with great sadness that I heard about the loss of Charles, he was a great guy and a musician only just at the beginning of his journey. Talking to him his passion for music was clear and I'm glad the band and his family are going ahead with the release of his music.

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

Mx

Recent Work; La Roux Cover.

La Roux, 2010 © Michael Robert Williams

I'll post some recent work here over the next couple of weeks. This is my La Roux cover portrait for US magazine 944, shot this summer. A few more have now been added to my website too.
La Roux is really good to photograph, she really understands the process and is happy to put in the time for a good shoot. I love the portraits we produced from the day.

Mx

August Catch-Up;

© Michael Robert Williams

My first and probably only post in August, I've been away for much of the month having finally taken the long-awaited break. A sailing holiday first around the South West coast of England, then some time away visiting family and friends too.
There were a couple of shoots in August before I went away, I photographed Klaxons, and Mystery Jets. I'll post new portraits soon. Some recent portraits from over the last few months have recently been added to my website; La Roux, Kate Nash, Eliza Doolittle, Yeasayer, and Bonobo were all recently added.

Off The South West Coast of England, 2010 © Michael Robert Williams

Mx

News Update; July 2010...

Lissie © Michael Robert Williams

I went to see the new American singer Lissie play in London last night. I photographed Lissie recently and her album is one of my favourites at the moment, so I was looking forward to the gig, and I really enjoyed it. It was in the ICA, a great place for a gig as it has an intimate feel. Lissie seemed to enjoy it too and was very relaxed while performing. A highlight for me was 'In Sleep', I love this one on the album, its a little reminiscent of 1970's era Fleetwood Mac - which I have a soft spot for I must admit. We even got a guest during the encore, Ellie Goulding came on to perform a song with Lissie.
It was a really good, relaxing evening after what has been a really busy period. There have been a lot of shoots recently but I'm going to be taking a break for some of August, I'll be away seeing family and friends for a week or so, and I'll be going sailing for a week too.

Its good to stop for a moment now though, I need a break - and its also an opportunity to kinda assess the first half of the year - its been really interesting this year and I've really enjoyed the work. There has been a lot of music shoots, with Kate Nash twice for US & UK magazines, Eliza Doolittle, Biffy Clyro, The Drums, also Lissie of course, and others.
Most recent was photographing La Roux for a cover story for a US magazine as she embarks on her US tour and American promo for her album. That was a really good shoot, I'm really happy with the results. Maybe my best work this year, setting things up nicely for when I return from my breaks away. I guess like many photographers I'm very hard on myself in terms of assessing my own work, but sometimes you know when its gone well and that shoot seemed like the culmination of a few ideas and things I'd been working on this year coming together. I'll post some of the La Roux portraits here or on my portfolio site next week.

Kate Nash © Michael Robert Williams

Mx

Me Profiled In 'Digital SLR User Magazine'.

More shameless self-promotion in this post I'm afraid...
The new issue of 'Digital SLR User Magazine' (UK, Cover date August 2010) is out, and has an eight-page profile on my photography. I'm interviewed about my background and my approach to my work, my love of music, and the feature includes a selection of my portraits. The picture above shows the opening spread showing my portrait of Kasabian.

Mx

'A Documentation Of The Encounter.'

'Portraiture in the past has been regarded as a documentation of a person but for me it is a documentation of the encounter between myself and the subject. It is not meant to reveal them, nor is it meant to subject them to an X-ray; it is a departure from that.'
- Steven Klein.