Mark McNulty Photography

Monday Monday

After a long weekend of going to see Arctic Monkeys and then a Sunday wedding, Monday was never going to be an easy ride. And it wasn't but I did enjoy myself. After spending a couple of hours photographing a singer/actor I'd never met before called Mike McCardle, and spending most of that time talking and putting the world to rights, I then met up with Liverpool musician Esa Shields. I was photographing him for a French music mag and also for a new exhibition I've started working on. We did some in the studio and then went down to a studio on Aigburth Road run by a bloke called Dmitri who's originally from Minsk. I'd been to Minsk in 1991 to cover a concert for Chernobyl and Dmitiri was actually there so I've promised to let him see the photographs when they appear as I scan them for the book.

Wish You Were Here

And whilst I was going through old images I came across this which was the first shoot I ever did with Jenny Cooper. Originally taken for Facto magazine, this was shot in Rhyl which is always a location winner and I've uploaded a load more from this shoot into the fashion album.

Website

I've been working on a new website and, at the same time, updating my portfolio for the first time in a few years so I've been coming across some photographs I've not seen in a while. Here's one of Helen, from Ladytron, taken in Shanghai.

Numanberg Rally

Gary Numan played Carling Academy last night and his fans scared the living daylights out of me. Forty to fifty year olds chanting 'NUMAN, NUMAN, NUMAN..'. And they'd brought along the kids. There was a 6-8 year old child standing in the front row holding up a drawing, that I presume he'd done himself, of Gary Numan and he was just staring up at the stage awaiting recognition. Wrong diddly wrong.

Come And Talk To Us

Conversation is the new show by Liverpool design studio Burn and it's on at the Site Gallery on The Albert Dock. And you can join in. Usual gallery hours and I don't know when it ends so best get there quick.

Where am I?

Don't forget the Motor City.

I've just been contacted by a U.S. publisher enquiring about some photographs I took in Detroit about 12 years ago that they want to use in a book about the history of music in Detroit. The photographs they're after are of Detroit techno dj and producer Juan Atkins so I've been scanning a couple along with photographs of Thomas Barnett, Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes and Aux 88 which were taken on the same 5 day trip. I loved being in Detroit though it's not the sort of place you'd go on holiday as the t-shirts on display in the one gift shop we found had things like 'Don't mess with me, I've got friends in Detroit' written on them. We were staying downtown and the place was deserted as most people live out in the suburbs and we were about 10 minutes walk from Submerge Records, a legendary Detroit techno shop and label. The shop itself was not open to the public other than by private viewing and it was on the Cass corridor which isn't exactly the safest place in town. And above Submerge, in this small warehouse building, lived (and worked) Eddie, Juan and Underground Resistence's Mike Banks. Eddie Fowlkes took us on the Detroit tour past General Motors, the projects where Diana Ross grew up and then onto the Motown Museum whilst Juan Atkins took us across the river to Canada so that we could see the view of the city in the background. Thomas Barnett took us up to the top of Detroit's disused railway station so that we could get some views of the city from the roof and then exit quickly before the evening's gang fights broke out. I don't really remember where Aux 88 took us to but I do remember that it was a Sunday afternoon, that the interview was done in a mall and that they talked a lot about Kraftwerk. And Mike Banks took us record shopping and then out at night, to some great clubs, though he wouldn't allow himself to be photographed. Whilst out there, we were also supposed to do an interview and photo session with Kenny Larkin but he'd moved out to the suburbs and had been shot at home. So we went to see him in hospital and that was all a bit strange. I went back later with Portishead on tour but this trip was one of the best trips I went on and our techno guides made it all the more interesting. These photographs were originally used in the book/cd publication called Trance Atlantic Express and were commissioned by Helen Mead.

Sweets

The end of last week was taken doing some business related portraits for a commercial commision by Uniform and I'll no doubt show them when the brochure they were shot for is released. Meanwhile here's a photograph of some mobile phones that were made out of nougat by Regina Peldszus for a fashion shoot that originally featured in Plastic Rhino Magazine.

Reverend & The Makers

Was back at the Carling last night photographing Reverend & The Makers sold out gig. Never paid any attention to their existence before last night but it was worth the trek out. Good enough tunes, of which I knew a few, and they make an effort on stage which is always to be applauded.  Not much coming up at Carling over the next few weeks though of course there are the Gary Numan fans next Friday!!
 

That London

I was supposed to go to Rhyl yesterday to do some personal work and I actually think that was the reason why it stopped raining! However, I got a job from James Rae Communications  to do some annual report photography for LHT so that got put on hold again whilst I did the commission. The job went well and I was finished by midday and then I got a phone call from Chris at Opening Doors about doing a shoot in London today, but today I'm photographing the leader of the city council for another client.  So the only thing to do was to get straight on the train, get to London for 4pm, do the job and then head straight back whilst editing the job.  And then the train was delayed and we got sent to Coventry and I finally got home about 1am.  On the train down there I had a crap sandwich and then arrived at Bank Restaurant (it was an interiors shoot) to be asked to photograph the most amazing food. Which I did and then watched the staff eat it all whilst I politely declined mumbling something about being professional and time wasn't on my side etc.  And then, to add insult to injury, I get up at 7am this morning to finish the edit and the first thing I see is that food again and I'm starving so I thought I'd share a couple of the photographs with you in case you're hungry too.