PICTURES: NICK ELLIOTT
Local Arts
ABOVE: 50Folk may be a big landmark in the career of rock photographer Nick Elliott (below) but his forthcoming Size Matters exhibition will see his amazing work presented on a bigger scale than ever
Rocking the world of folk with Nick Elliott... As renowned rock photographer Nick Elliott releases his art book 50Folk, Emma Barnard talks to him about the Cambridge Folk Festival and his plans for the biggest photographic art show ever. EMMA BARNARD: What’s the background story on Nick Elliott? NICK ELLIOTT: It’s a big story! It all started with a deep passion to create, with my inspiration coming mainly from British black and white films and the glory days of Hollywood. Of course, after photography my greatest passion has always been music. In addition to spending hours listening to music and going to live shows, I studied the great fashion photographers like Terence Donovan, Patrick Lichfield and – my biggest inspiration – David Bailey. For me, photography was the medium through which I could create something that
KLmagazine May 2015
would leave a mark, to change things. Once I left school, I joined the local press and then worked for major consumer magazines before moving into advertising, shooting a number of major campaigns. Eventually, I came to a creative point where I wanted to specialise – and the natural trip for me was into the music business. EMMA BARNARD: So why choose to photograph live performances over pure portraits? NICK ELLIOTT: Having spent so much of my life at live events, and being deeply influenced by some of the performances of the truly great
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