For the last 25 years, Manchester-based photographer Richard Kelly has been attending superstar concerts, hanging out backstage with singers and asking icons to pose in basement studios.
From the Arctic Monkeys and Amy Winehouse to local grime stars, he’s captured some of the biggest and most exciting names when it comes to British music.
His career began whilst working at the Manchester Evening News almost 30 years ago. Originally from Burnage, Richard, then 16, was drawn into the power of the photo as he worked as a messenger for the features department.
Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link
“It was a huge influence on my career,” Richard tells the M.E.N of that time back in 1994. “In fact, if I hadn't worked there as a messenger I don't know if I would have gone into photography.
"It was only from seeing the photographers working on different jobs each day as I delivered things around the building as a 16-year-old messenger that I started to think it would be a possible career option.”
Working on the first floor of the paper’s offices, he got to watch the likes of editor Brian Knowles and Diary Page writers Andy Spinoza and Carl Palmer at work and in their element. It convinced him to take night classes in photography once a week.
Richard eventually went on to study Documentary Photography at university, working as a photo lab technician at the same time to earn some money on the side. Whilst studying during the day, he spent his evenings attending and photographing music raves in Manchester.
When his work got picked up by the likes of music magazines Vice and Dazed, he ‘naturally progressed’ into a career as a music photographer. It led him to eventually become the go-to photographer for documenting the Arctic Monkeys on tour when they just caught their big break.
He says his time at university taught him how to approach the subjects of his photos with an approach that has helped put many of the biggest artists on today’s stage at ease.
“My degree was in Documentary Photography and Fine Art so I've always taken an observer's viewpoint,” he explains. “I've come to realise it's less about not wanting to be the band's friends and more about keeping that approach of documenting not taking part. With that distance, I'm able to make who I'm photographing relax and that for me is where I create the best work.”
25 years into his career, Richard still works in photography whilst also lecturing in Fashion Media at the Manchester Fashion Institute. Selected works from throughout his career are currently on display in the exhibition space of The Refuge in the Kimpton Clock Tower.
Richard Kelly: A Time and Place featuring a range of renowned artists like John Cooper Clark and Florence and the Machine alongside local talent including Antony Szmierek and Akemi Fox.
Richard says the idea of putting up-and-coming artists with world-famous acts was always a key part of the exhibit. “When the Kimpton Clock Tower Hotel approached me about showing my music work they were immediately on board with the idea of showcasing new Manchester artists alongside the more iconic images,” he explains.
“For me, I wanted it to be a continuation of my work as opposed to a nostalgic look book. It makes me happy thinking that someone might come to the exhibition to see the Amy Winehouse image and end up going home looking up Akemi Fox on Spotify and becoming a new fan.”
Whilst he’s had the opportunity to enjoy stadiums, arenas, theatres and club venues across the world, Richard says there’s something that always draws him back to Manchester.
“I think Manchester has always had a rich tapestry of creatives,” he explains. “It does seem like there's more of that than ever at the moment. I personally think that it's the perfect city as it has so many people moving to it who want to do creative things.
“There's an in-built structure of venues that nurture new acts - for me, Grand Central on Oxford Road is one such venue - and the size of the city itself means it's large enough to have its own pockets where interesting things going on, like Cheetham Hill, but it’s also compact enough for these to spill over and cross-pollinate.”
His work will be on exhibit until August, with many of the photos on display for the first time ever. But choosing a favourite out of all of those on show is an impossible task.
“It can change from week to week,” he says when given that very real scenario to choose from. “I've always loved the shots of Lee Scratch Perry as he was such a live wire to photograph. I remember a couple of minutes before the shoot he said he didn't like the vibes in the room and wandered off.
“But I do always come back to the Amy Winehouse image as it was and is a real moment-in-time photograph. A brief respite for her away from the chaos and noise just before she went onstage.
“Most of the time after a shoot, the work is filed away in my archives so getting images framed and put on the walls somewhere like the Kimpton Clock Tower and seeing people taking selfies with the work or generally enjoying it really makes me happy.”
Richard Kelly: A Time and Place is free to view on the walls at The Refuge until August 31.
