My 2023 Top 9
FUCK THE TOP 9
My top 9, according to instagram is definitely not what I would consider my best work of last year. Not least because it’s got a picture of me in it. Nobody really needs that!
There’s a bunch of live music in there, which always does well on insta because the fans of the band invariably jump on things and push the numbers.
Live music is where I started in photography and I still love it. So much. There’s nothing like the relentless buzz of being in the middle of a live show, trying to see where all the opportunities lie to document it best. One of these shots, of Lauren Mayberry at her piano on her first Glasgow solo show, I do especially love.
But my heart and work pulls me in a different direction these days. I spend a lot of my time in the studio, playing and experimenting and trying to create interesting portraits of interesting people. This, is where I feel like I am doing my best work. Certainly my favourite work.
2023
If you saw my other, much more personal, post about 2023, you’ll know already it wasn’t the rosiest of times.
Working in any creative industry, there’s a balance to strike. On one side there’s creating work that fulfils and keeps you coming back for more. On the other side, there’s business. The ideal scenario is bringing these two sides as close to the middle as possible and finding that sweet moment of contentment.
I’m fortunate that these moments have circled round fairly often. But these goal posts, they move!
My tastes and ambitions are evolving and so then is the work that I want to do.
IKIGAI
A friend recently introduced me to the Japanese concept of Ikigai. Essentially, the point in the venn diagram where your talents, your passions, your business and greater purpose overlap.
Many days of early 2024 have been spent with this in mind.
SAVE THE WORLD
I’ve been taking steps lately to ensure my business is a green as possible; from switching to an electric car, partnering with Ecologi to plant trees on my behalf, and I’m currently exploring ways to carbon offset travel further afield. On a micro level, I want to leave my daughter in the best possible position to succeed at life. On a macro level, that seems pointless if I’m not trying to be a part of the solution when it comes to destroying the planet. So I’m aiming to move some of my work into the renewables sector, finding ways to utilise my experience and skills to help tell the stories that need to be told in that world.
BE KIND, EVEN TO YOURSELF
It’s easy to never be satisfied with your own work as a creative. That’s what fuels the fire to keep creating better work. Restless feet keep us moving forward.
I’m trying though, always and never-endingly, to be kinder to myself. Looking at the ‘top 9’ that instagram suggested to me, and thinking about how Euan of 2010 when I started this mad journey would feel about that work.
To know that one day you’ll be working with some of your favourite bands on the planet, photographing festivals, on stage at the fucking Barrowlands, winning awards and featured in exhibitions. And it would be my job? Nah, no way I’d have believed it.
Thank you, if you’re here, you’re amazing and I love you. If you read any of this, or any of what I put out in the world, I am grateful. If you’ve been in front of my camera, then you’re next level.
Here’s to next years top 9!
p.s. I’m planning on writing a lot more here. It feels much better to me than what other social channels allow for. I have lots of ideas but I don’t really know who’s reading. So if there’s anything you’d enjoy hearing about or if there’s way I can be useful to you, then I’m always all ears. Email me or drop a comment, I’d love to hear from you.
Euan
Liam. One of the baddest MFers I know. Doctors used some of his leg to rebuild his neck! I don’t think he’ll see it in bad taste to exclaim “mind blown”.
Callum. I wrote an especially gushy post about how great this guy is.
Aidan. A fabulously talented and lovely person who was kindly patient with me as I photographed through a fog of lingering illness. I love this from a technical point of view. There’s a lot going on to make this look the way it looks.
BEMZ. If you don’t know Bemz yet, get on it quick. One of my most memorable days in the studio. Brilliant chat about life and work in creative industries. The positivity and joy he brings is infectious. 2024 is his.
STARLING SYMPHONY. Another I love from a technical perspective. Having a vision and executing on it is some pretty satisfying stuff. I have a whole set from this shoot that I love. More to come from this that I haven’t shared. Bonus that it features one of my very favs, Abigail.
MAUNGO. Probably my favourite person to photograph right now. I’d have her in the studio every week. So talented and creative in her movement, her dance and ideas. You might have seen this one on my socials already, but I fucking love it.
MAUNGO. again. Maybe my favourite photo I made all of 2023.
Old Sea Brigade. Remember earlier I mentioned about working with my favourite artists? If someone took a line out of my brain and made music that I wished could exist, then it would sound exactly like Ben. I’m very glad to call him a friend and was so delighted to have the chance to photograph him when he passed through Glasgow last year.
Ciaran Ryan. Sometimes the most talented are the quietest. The most un-assuming. And so it is with Ciaran, we only met for the first time at this session with his band. Humble, kind, and open to me rushing him to the floor to catch this gorgeous sunlight streaming into the studio. In true Glasgow style it was gone in a minute.