FOLLOW US ON:
GET THE NEWSLETTER
CONTACT US
Exclusive interview with legendary photographer Brian Sweeney

image
 
It was his art teacher who first suggested he should pick up a camera. “My paintings were shite. I had a wee camera but didn’t really use it much till I went to college where I did this design for print course thing at the GCBP (Glasgow College of Building and Printing). Most of the photographers who were there at the time thought I was studying photography I spent so much time in the darkroom.”

That’s when Brian Sweeney found he had more than just a natural talent for photography. A talent that would lead him to become one of the most sought after, award winning photographers in the Europe. 

It was probably something that as always there in the background, as he explained in this exclusive interview with Dangerous Minds:

Brian Sweeney: ‘A-ha, the background. Funnily enough, I met up with some old schoolfriends of mine recently, who informed me I was always an arty-farty little bastard. I do remember being told by the headmaster that school was for learning and not a bloody discotheque - I’ve always loved that word ever since during that period we were all dressing up as Dexy’s Midnight Runners, something I still haven’t grown out of yet - well, that 80s period anyway.’

It was his fascination with music and fashion and soccer that led Sweeney to start documenting the clubs he and his friends hung out in.

Brian Sweeney: ‘I’d always been around bands from an early age. We were going into night clubs like Lucifers (now the Sub Club) and Fury Murrys to see a lot of later Factory bands. Then Acid House kicked off and I was sort of there shooting DJs, my mates etc, the scene basically for fun…..then ID, The Face, Melody Maker needed shots of the regional scenes and my name popped up quite a lot, so I started shooting for them up here [in Glasgow]. It just sort of kicked off…I then started shooting for all the labels, just in the right place at the right time. Everything happened very quickly from being on the dole and arsing around nightclubs to well earning money and shooting celebrities and arsing around nightclubs in London.”’

Arsing about or not, Sweeney is a legendary figure in the photographic world, known for his professionalism, enthusiasm and boundless energy, going from one location to the next, fashion shoots, adverts, documentary work, magazine work - his creativity never stops. Sweeney’s been described as the equivalent of Hunter S Thompson with a camera - but only far more talented - while his looks have been described as a grizzled Santa’s helper or a more handsome Billy Bob Thornton, take your pick. 

When I first met him, a while back now, he had broken his arm, but was still managing to take some of the most inspired and revealing portraits I’d ever seen. Last year, he had a broken leg, but even this didn’t stop him, as he wheeled to and from locations, and when stuck in his apartment started documenting the visitors who came to wish him well. Earlier this year he made a series of short how-to-shoot films for the Guardian newspaper.

Brian Sweeney: ‘I hate forced photography. I have to be totally immersed in something to shoot, i.e. I have to be interested in the subject matter, well for personal work…’

Sweeney has just finished a commission for legendary Glasgow indie record label, Soma, which is celebrating 20 years producing quality dance muisc by the likes of Daft Punk.

Brian Sweeney: ‘I’m quite proud of that ‘cause I’ve been there from the beginning, so it’s nice to see we are all still going despite the parties. Lesser mortals would have fallen.

“I’m also shooting loads for Channel Four, making some short films for Harris Tweed and virals for wee indie bands. Directing some semi decent budget pop promos, and shooting shit loads of bands again.’

Then there’s the private commissions, and then work for the Daily Telegraph, Guardian, and the odd campaign “when there’s a budget for photography.”

Brian Sweeney: ‘Christ, I just realized I shot stills and posters for 5 feature films last year. I’m just still glad to be still doing it. I’ve seen so many people give up, so I suppose I must be doing something right.’

He stops for a second.

Brian Sweeney: I was going to say I wasn’t travelling as much nowadays, but that’d be utter shite!’

This week, sees the opening of an exhibition of Sweeney’s work at the Folk Store, 11 Dray Walk, Truman Brewery, London, from Thursday 8th September for 4 weeks.

Brian Sweeney: ‘The exhibition came about through a mate from school who arsed around with me in the early days. He runs a label called Folk and he had a space in his new store in Brick Lane in London. The label kind of matches in asthetics some of the long term projects I’ve been working on - its community and spirit ethics. So we thought it might be nice to do something together. Also it was motivational for me as I havent had a major show in London since Great Stadiums of Iceland in 2002.

‘The new work is an expansion of previous projects. Since Iceland, I’ve done Spain, Sweden, Scotland, Poland and more. So the Iceland project has developed into this European thing now.’

Amongst the works on show are a continuation of the series of disused or empty soccer stadia.

Brian Sweeney: ‘That all began in 1995, when I asked Einarr Orn of The Sugarcubes, whilst I was out shooting in Reykjavik, if that tiny wooden stand next to a football pitch was for a junior team, and he replied, ‘No, it’s a Premier League team and one of the oldest in Iceland…’ He wasn’t lying and I just became hooked on collecting these images of obscure empty football fields.

‘The work on show is called Were the Antelopes Sleep. I got the name ‘were the antelopes sleep’ for pressing the wrong button on Google and the first thing that came up was ‘were do antelopes sleep?’ and I thought, that’s a good question where the fuck do antelopes sleep? Like why do we never see baby pigeons?’

Were Do Antelopes Sleep ties in with another project Sweeney is working on “again based on emptiness and obscurity…theses are the places between were I shoot the fields so I suppose the works have some train of thought. I’m just showing a few new bits and peices in view to something bigger altogether…”

As final questions, I asked him what’s so good about photography? And why?

Brian Sweeney: ‘Photography has changed so much since I started. I could go on about models, drugs, travel, but one brilliant thing that I can say is that Digital Photography has given marginalised parts of society a voice. It’s a wonderful tool for communication if used properly.

‘I just completed a course for young homeless kids in Glasgow using photography. Now we weren’t necessarily teaching them to be phtographers but what they did get from it was confidence, a new way of seeing, respect and the concept that you can actually achieve something.

‘There’s too many answers to what’s good about photography. I just stumbled across it and fell in love, pretty much the way I’ve conducted my life.’

See more of Brian’s work here and here.

Selection of photographs from Were Antelopes Sleep below, for details check here.
 
image
 
image
 
image
 
image
 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
|
09.06.2011
07:33 pm
|
Discussion

 

 

comments powered by Disqus