Welcome to our newest Zone: “Big Shots.” The title refers not only to the extremely talented music photographers we feature each time, but also to the six photographs each photographer chooses to showcase their skills.
We invite amazing camera creatives from around the world – from veteran guys and gals whose images of iconic famous bands and artists have been seen globally for decades, to new and exciting young professionals who are star snappers of the future, and the best of today’s most respected names in music photography – to choose half a dozen shots from their own archive, and tell us why they chose each picture.
The photographs they choose can be live concert and/or festival shots, portraits and/or candid backstage/hotel images. We also give a brief bio of each photographer.
- The latest lens man we are happy to feature in “Big Shots” is Buckinghamshire-based Mark Cavill…
BIO:
Live music and studio photographer Mark Cavill has been working in the industry for nearly 20 years, and combines concert work with studio-based promo/portrait work.
Winning his first camera in a “Look-In” magazine competition at 11-years-old, Mark started taking photos from the crowd at gigs and progressed to shooting world famous artists, and having his images distributed by major photo agencies; published in newspapers, magazines and on-line around the world since 2005.
Starting from humble beginnings, photographing Steps from the audience during their 2000 Christmas Tour, and sharing images with fans on a homemade website. Mark was granted his first press pass in 2005, shooting Jem at Shepherds Bush Empire and soon covered concerts by Anastacia, Rihanna, Natalie Imbruglia and many more.
Mark’s first published image was of Britney Spears live on stage at Wembley, quickly followed by magazine sales of gig shots of Girls Aloud and Steps, followed by event shots of Nell McAndrew and Katy Price.
Mark soon became the photographer of choice for many girl-bands, commissioned to photograph more than 100 groups in the first decade of his career, a good few eventually becoming household names.
Mark also began working with a number of high profile music showcases in London, shooting upcoming artists each month, helping to promote them and their music, networking with industry professionals and meeting the stars of the future: Fleur East, FKA Twigs, Mollie King to name a small few.
He has shot private events at the invitation of the likes of Pete Waterman, been sole snapper for a number of artists to shoot their gigs, and today travels the UK at the invite of artists and their management, PR and production teams to cover concerts and appearances. This year, 2024, Mark will venture overseas to cover some international events for select artists.
Mark has chosen images of Taylor Swift, Melanie C, Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode, Liam Gallagher, Mabel and Fallen Angelz.
Image 1: Taylor Swift
The second time I had photographed Taylor. The first was at the V Festival in 2009, when she had been the best-selling artist in the world for two years. Having the chance to shoot her again at Radio 1’s “Biggest Weekend” in Swansea was a joy. Her appearance was broadcast live on TV.
Image 2: Melanie C
Ex-Spice Girl Melanie C performing at Kew Gardens in London. One of my favourite artists to shoot, Mel knows how to work the audience, and gives the photographers fantastic images.
Image 3: Dave Gahan
Depeche Mode headlining The Isle of Wight Festival. Having been a Depeche Mode fan in the 80’s, it was fantastic to see them headlining a massive festival 30-plus years later.
Image 4: Liam Gallagher
Liam headlining Isle of Wight Festival. I was never a huge fan of Oasis, but to see a superstar perform for a crowd of thousands, you understand what all the excitement is about.
Image 5: Mabel
Most of my work is based around the pop/r&b genres of the industry and I have been a fan of Mabel since back in 2018, having the opportunity to shoot her a number of times over the years. This image is from when she headlined the Somerset House season in London. It always makes the images a bit more special when you get eye contact from the artist.
Image 6: Fallen Angelz feat. Mollie King
This is a montage I put together in 2007 as part of a shoot for a new website for the then upcoming girl-band Fallen Angelz, who I had met at a showcase in London and worked with regularly for a couple of years. They had been featured in a BBC documentary and had been through a number of stages of the X-Factor.
The photo shoot was in the can, editing was nearly done and the website was being worked on. Then one of the group, Mollie King, was given the chance to become a member of The Saturdays, and they shot to fame. Sadly, Fallen Angelz didn’t!
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More “Big Shots” coming very soon…
Festival crowd from the ‘big wheel’ photo [top of page] credit: Katja Ogrin
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