Peter Rollins // Hollywood, California

Growing up in Belfast I remember the name Peter Rollins being referenced by a lot of people around me. 

Peter is a theologian, speaker, thinker and author from Belfast, who now plies his trade in Hollywood California. I contacted Peter through our mutual friend Phil Harrison to see if he was interested in hanging out when I was in California this October. 

I love doing portraiture work. It challenges me creatively and gives me the opportunity to spend time with some incredibly talented and inspiring individuals, and getting the chance to share a bit of time with Peter was no exception. 

Peter is hosting an online series called Atheism for Lent through March & April, followed by a lecture in Belfast on the 10th of April. Following that he hosts his boutique festival in Belfast called Wake which is in its 5th year. 

Nathan Jess // Musician // Belfast

Last year, friend and talented musician Nathan Jess asked if I would hang out with him for an afternoon to get some shots to refresh his website, as he had a new album coming out. 

It wasn't planned but one of the shots got used for the new album artwork. The album comes out on the 10th February on Integrity Music and I can't wait to be there at the launch night in the Waterfront Studio Theatre. You can get your tickets HERE. You don't want to miss this! 

If being successful was solely based on talent and dedication, Nathan would be a superstar, lets just hope that everything lines up for as many people to hear his music as possible.

Looking forward to everyone getting to hear this. 

Foy Vance // Ulster Hall, Belfast // 5th December 2016

My first full time job was a youth worker in a church in Bangor. I remember being there for a week or so whenever I heard a song come on someones iPod that I recognised but had never heard the voice before. 

'She was more like a beauty queen, from a movie scene'

I was mesmerised and kept hitting repeat. When I enquired about who this guy was singing Billie Jean, I felt like I was being let into a Bangor secret. 

Don't know if this mans' talent was ever a secret or I was just late to the party but I have been following and loving the music of Foy Vance ever since. 

After being in touch with his management I was invited down last Monday night to the Ulster Hall to photograph the whole night from start to finish including getting photos of the band with their final Movember efforts [well done lads]

This was the first of a two show run in the Ulster Hall, the second being tonight of  Foy's three studio albums; his latest, The Wild Swan, is the one I have given least attention to. I don't know why. I just wasn't getting it.

When Foy plays live, he creates an energy in the room that few others can. I have experienced this energy many times. One of my favourites was a surprise Christmas gig he did in a brilliant small pub/club in Belfast called The Menagerie. It was once owned by local DJ and producer David Holmes. During the build up to the gig there was music being played over the sound system that really moved me, I remember going up to the sound guy [who I then later realised was David Holmes himself] and asking what the music was and he, full of animation told me it was a small singer songwriter from America he had been introduced to called Bon Iver. He told me to go buy his new album 'For Emma, forever ago'. So the night after I called into HMV in Belfast and picked up the CD and it has been one my most played albums ever. 

Both Bon Iver and Foy have moved their music careers forward both in the creation of music and in public recognition.

Monday I was honoured to witness the best Foy show I have ever seen on almost every level. The size of the venue [sold out over two nights], THE BAND, the production, the arrangement, song selection, support acts [Dana Masters & Ryan McMullan], crowd... etc etc.

People who are heading into Belfast tonight to see the final show of a long tour leg are in for an early Christmas gift. A gift FULL of emotion, passion and traditional Foy humour. 

The Wild Swan has been an ever present sound in my ears this week, with a feeling that the trick that I missed on its initial release, I have finally caught the heart of it at this show. I now with slight embarrassment say, I get it! 

“Let me carry your burden
Get you back on a high when you’re feeling low
When the weight’s too heavy but you won’t let go”

— Foy Vance - Burden

[Make sure you are there for the support, as its been hand picked by Foy due to raw talent]

Credits & thanks to...

Foy Vance - Headline Act

Dana Masters - Support Act

Ryan McMullan - Support Act 

Lee Mitchell - Tour Manager 

Ulster Hall - Venue

David C. Clements // The Empire Music Hall // Belfast December 2015

The week leading up to Christmas I continued working with David C. Clements in the lead up to his album launch in February at a very memorable  gig in The Empire Music Hall.

I had the opportunity to document the whole night and a lot of fun doing it.

Massive shoutouts have to go to:

Thomas at Old Fang.

Ian Jordan and everyone who fought against a temperamental in house sound system all night.

Jaime Niesh for his beautiful support performance.

and 

DCC and all his team. Incredible night. 

This debut album 'Longest Day in History' comes out on the 19 February, you can pre order it by clicking on the album cover below. He will also be playing an album launch show on the 11th March in Belfast click HERE for more details.

David C. Clements // Waterfall Shoot

David C. Clements is one of the finest singer songwriters around. In early 2016 he releases his long awaited debut album, The Longest Day in History. 

I feel privileged to be working with him and his team on photos. 

I look forward to sharing other photos from this campaign. 

On a mild summers day David & I came up with the concept of being submerged in water and put our ideas into action. We managed to come out in one piece, even after I slipped and nearly fell into the water, cameras and all, and then during the underwater shots, David nearly collapsed with the cold but was all good in the end. 

Location: Glenariff Forest Park, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland

My Dear Mother EP has been released on a free download HERE if you want to hear a teaser to the album release. 

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Lebanon // Part Five // Final Day in Bekaa

Over the past week I have been sharing some of the experiences I had from my trip to Lebanon at the end of March.

I have tried to write this a few times hence the delay. Today is the final post. I want to thank you all for liking and sharing. I also want to thank those who have been kind and contacted me to tell me how it has affected them. As a story teller, all you want to do is tell your story, via words or images, in a way that allows people to experience some of what you experienced. So, part five, let's go. 

I knew very little about Lebanon before I found out I was going there. 

I was unaware of the social and political history. Upon doing my research and talking to people when I was out  I was even more amazed by how the Lebanese are reacting to the Syrian refugees. For over 20 years ending in 2005, Syria occupied Lebanon. From stories I have heard and things I have read, to say they occupied with a firm hand would be an understatement. So in 2011 when war broke out in Syria and the Syrians started crossing the boarder, you can imagine for a lot of people that this wasn't a welcome sight. 

I can only speak of the people I met and the organisation I was documenting the work of [Heart for Lebanon] but watching the reaction of Christians towards their Muslim brothers and sisters was inspiring. It's as if they read their bible  and started taking the challenging passages of Jesus seriously. For years the passage that has kept coming back to me has been:

“39 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

— Matthew 25: 39-40 [NIV]

This passage is one that I speak on but RARELY act on. However, over the few days I was on site with Heart for Lebanon, I not only saw these things being done, but the heart that they serve with is something I could only aspire to. I watched as people came to pick up their food package, every single time, they were engaged by at least one member of staff with a smile and a question. I then watched and listened when the staff were offsite and as they told stories of the people they came into contact with I saw their hearts break all over again. 

We conducted one final interview on our third day in camp. It was with a lady and her husband. Strangely the husband requested that his wife spoke on behalf of their family. One of the children was with them and she sat patiently as the mother recounted her story. 

Her demeanour was quite calm and unemotional. So it was with great surprise when the translator told us her story that she had just told to him. 

She was traveling with her family from one village in Syria to another. As they approached a check point the  guards at the check point opened fire. 5 of the bullets that were fired hit her 11 year old son in the head. Her son unsurprisingly died of the injuries inflicted upon him. Her father in law was also hit and he died too. So a simple journey from one village to another changed their lives forever. Her demeanour was misleading. Her grief, whilst still very fresh had made her numb.

Strangely I was numb too. When I heard the story I was disgusted with myself that I didn't have an emotional reaction. In the short period of time that i had been there, my heart had already started to become hardened to the stories I was hearing.  

I asked Bashir, one of the staff members how he keeps going. How he protects his heart whilst keeping it soft. He says he has one story that for him keeps him going. It drives him forward, the one he revisits. 

He tells of a grandmother who had to look after this small baby when they arrived in Lebanon because the mother of the child [her daughter] had died in the fighting in Syria. The grandmother couldn't produce any milk and she couldn't afford any. So for days she struggled to find milk with no prevail. Days later this little starving baby died and was buried in one of the camps. For Bashir, this broke his heart and drives him forward. It was his line in the sand. 

In 2011, in Northern Ireland one of the things that had people up in arms was Pop superstar Rihanna shooting her music video for 'We Found Love' in Belfast and surrounding areas. When the video came out  people were upset at the hook line in the song, as if there was a reason other than her touring schedule that made her shoot this video in Belfast. 

“We found love in a hopeless place”

— Sang by Rhianna, Wrote by Calvin Harris

Walking around the camps in Lebanon it definitely felt like the most hopeless place on earth. I have heard someone describe it like time is standing still. 

For me, one of the biggest criticisms that is thrown at Christians that has the most sticking power is that Christians are known for what they don't do, rather that what they do do. The Christians I met through Heart for Lebanon, not one of them ever told me what they don't do. It was refreshing that the heart for service was one that didn't get tainted by arguments of church stewardship, conflicts over differences or even a bakery*. 

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the few days I had in Lebanon and the hours that we spent in camps. I have been searching for the thin line of hope that exists there. Then it dawned on me. 

Hope walks into these camps everyday with supplies.

Hope knows the residents names.

Hope touches the knees and hands of the broken.

Hope listens to the painful stories.

Hope weeps with the broken.

Hope shines its light in dark places.

Hope causes people to smile with its presence, even if only for a minute. 

Hope bandages up the scars of the past with its healing touch.

Hope waits with you. 

Hope takes the shape in extraordinarily ordinary people. 

Hope is relentless. 

Hope does the simple things like just getting up in the morning and being there. 

Hope strives for resolution even when the horizon line of change is nowhere to be seen. 

Hope has a name. 

Hope is Chris

Hope is Denise

Hope is Bashir

Hope lies in the faces and the in the actions of the rest of staff at Heart for Lebanon. 

As I left Lebanon, taking a last look at the sunrise over Beirut as we walked through the doors of the airport, I thanked God for people who take their faith seriously. Not in a way that gets upset when someone offends them through something they have said or done, but who are upset and offended when there is something that isn't being said or done. 

To that I say Amen [so be it]

*https://vimeo.com/123653742

Bears Den // Belfast

One of my albums of last year was Bear's Den – Islands - incredible work by a great band. However I was a bit late to the party, the first time they played Belfast I was relatively unaware of them. However in March I was doing wedding photos in Texas of all places, and the first dance was about to happen and these lads got up on stage to sing the couple through this normally slightly awkward tradition. It was only after they played I found out who they were. As you can see in the photo below, they fully bought into the Texan look! 

After leaving Texas I made sure to look up this 'first dance band' - to my joy, I loved their stuff. They also released one of the best & beautiful music videos I have ever seen - shot & directed by Marcus Haney - Elysium.

So when they were calling through Belfast to play in Voodoo & I was offered the opportunity to take some photos of the band as they hung out before the gig and then some shots of the gig itself, I jumped at the chance. Now the only time I have done music photography was YEARS ago at a Foy Vance gig and then more recently at an Ellie Goulding gig in Madison Square Garden in New York [Will feature this in a future blog]. So I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had met some of the band & their management team before, so knew it would be a good laugh anyway. I love documenting parts of experiences that people dont get to see, the behind the scenes parts. So here are a selection from soundcheck right through to the end of the show. I didn't do photos whilst we where eating dinner at Made In Belfast because we were all enjoying eating too much.

So do me a favour and have a look some of the photos from that night, however do yourself a favour and listen to their stuff and/or catch them on the remainder of their UK/European Tour - Dates HERE

IF

One of the reasons why I have been slow to get stuff up online was a mental busy June! 

Alongside photography, I work part time for Tearfund and we where involved in an amazing campaign called 'IF'.

This was a campaign that brought over 200 organisations together, asking the leaders of the G8 whilst they where in Enniskillen to make massive steps forward to end world hunger.  

Part of the awareness for this campaign was two BIG IF concerts, one in London and the other in Belfast.  

I was involved in some parts of the organisation of the Belfast event as well as the fringe event that Tearfund put on just before!  

One of the things I was asked to do at the event was to make a video of the highlights of the day. This was shot and edited in a few days.  I only got the chance to take a few photos as filming was the main priority!

A massive thanks goes to Two Door Cinema Club who allowed us to use their track 'something good can work'

If you would like to see it please have a watch below and let me know what you think! 

-dc

PS - a massive thank you to David Cleland of Flixel Pix - who was one of our on site photographers! 

Andrew & Sonya // La Mon Wedding

A great day in Donaghadee, then onto La Mon with Andrew & Sonya! 

-dc