Alan Blundell: the man capturing Liverpool’s grassroots arts scene…
Alan Blundell is one of Liverpool’s finest photographers, who is capturing so much of Liverpool’s grassroots arts scene at the moment. Catching up with Al and talking about his favourite memories, photographs and gigs has been fantastic and we’re delighted to shine a spotlight on his amazing work and everything that he snaps behind the scenes…
1. How did you get into photography?
When I was 11 or 12, I noticed my Mum using a Kodak 126. “I want a go” said little Al and the rest as they say… I was hooked. Little did I know that before I came along, my Dad also used to do photography and even had his own darkroom, although he’d stopped by the time I was using the 126. As I grew up I realised that not every family had loads of photographs of their kids as they grew up on holidays etc. so I’m blessed to have that collection. I guess it was destiny!
2. What sort of things do you photograph / what are your favourite subjects to shoot?
The last few years it’s been mainly people, where as prior to Covid it was anything but. I’d wait ages, much to Lisa, my wife’s frustration, to get a clean unpopulated photo of that traditional tourist spot. I’m not the most patient of folk so I even surprise myself sometimes how long I will wait for the shot. My favourite subjects have gone from architectural/travel to gig and theatre work, where I really enjoy trying to capture the moment of great expression on the performers’ faces. But it’s still a nice abstract/macro photo though too!
3. You’re very involved with Liverpool’s ‘cultural scene’ … tell us more about this.
After my youth I never really went to gigs until one day Lisa mentioned her workmate playing a gig in the Jacaranda. Whilst there I had my mobile phone so took a few naff photos but saw folk with full camera gear. I never realised you could take in cameras so next time I did. Then Covid hit and I got a message from a guy who was at the same gig, had seen my photos and wanted to use them for his online magazine that he wanted to keep going through Covid.
I was thrilled, shared the photos and ultimately met up with Richie Yates, from Last Stop Sounds, once Covid was over. Since then, we’ve become great friends and I have continued to take photos at gigs at a multitude of venues all over the North West. In doing this, I’ve met so many lovely folk who have asked me to take photos for them too: online magazines, marketing companies, venues, promoters and the artists themselves, and I now also take photos at theatres and other events such as Africa Oyé! Rather ironic that I have gone from doing everything not to take photos of people to now.. well… taking photos of people!
The best thing about all of it is getting out, meeting folk you normally wouldn’t get to meet and realising/appreciating the cultural richness of our wonderful city.
4. What are your favourite venues? Both to shoot, and as a punter?
Ha I couldn’t possibly say! But in terms of photography, theatre tends to be easier as the lighting is more structured and dedicated to each scene of the show where as the smaller music gigs don’t always have lighting technicians on duty, so you get what you get which is sometimes a nice challenge too.
5. Do you shoot to film? Digitally? Both?
In 2005, Lisa got herself a small Sony digital. The screen was about the size of my thumbnail and the resulting photos very harsh and over sharpened. “This will never catch on” says me. As the year went on I found myself taking more photos on this Sony than my wonderfully named Tank T90 Canon film camera, which eventually became something I took along with me but didn’t use.
The following year I bought a Nikon D200, our darkroom became a full time bedroom again, and have never used film since. The ability to quickly check what you have just taken and more importantly just process/print (and importantly pay for) only those shots you need settled it. When 4K TVs came in, I stopped printing photos and went purely digital for output too.
6. Can you send us three of your favourite images from your own collection?
Phew that is a challenge, as there is a wide gamut of subjects and many years to pick from! I have an online gallery (https://www.alanblundell.co.uk/portfolio/) that I add to as time goes on so I assume at the time they would have been my favourites. But here’s a couple that stick out:
7. Do any other photographers inspire you?
The patience shown by my brother in law Stu Hill to get some of the truly magical wildlife shots is pure inspiration. One image took four and a half years to take: Mating Welsh mountain goats. This is because during the rut, mating takes place many times but is over very quickly.
https://www.instagram.com/weekend_wildlife_photographer
I also went to an exhibition in Foam, Amsterdam many years ago showing photos from German photographer August Sander who began his decades-long project ‘People of the Twentieth Century’, where he aimed to photograph the cross-section of society during the Weimar Republic, essentially a portrait of every “type” of person; their role. He never completed but it does now make me realise that I don’t do gig photos I actually take portraits of people whilst they are at work!
8. Can you share a few images that have inspired you?
Again so many! I have a book at home that I often flick through which acts as a reminder of how talented the photographers of the past were to capture such images on film cameras with no preview and limited film ASA (ISO). The Great LIFE Photographers: The best work of every LIFE magazine staff photographer. I would recommend any budding photographers to get a copy for their coffee table.
So a couple from there…
Politcal/Ironic/Disingenous
(Pick up from https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/50adfa2ae4b0cc1d786569eb/1592769033187-TEVRPRPWQYJDO7XOOY8S/?content-type=image%2Fjpeg )
… and of it’s time
