22 Highlights of 2022

148 shoots across 174 days.
8 countries. 

1 - Ben Böhmer (Live) at The Camden Roundhouse - 18th February

Starting the year as I mean to carry on and making my return to actually posting on my feed. Finally, 2022 felt like a normal year again and it's been by far my busiest. To kick things off I've picked out 22 highlights from across the year.⁠
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Starting chronologically with a show way back at the start of the year at the @roundhouseldn with @benbohmermusic. An artist who's frequently in my Spotify rotation with an incredible live show. I was in love with this first image.⁠
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Despite the havoc wreaked by Storm Eunice the day before, with all trains cancelled, I made the drive determined not to miss this one.⁠


2 - Secret Cinema presents Netflix's Bridgerton - 26th February

2022 saw the return of @secret_cinema and their immersive worlds. The first of three magical worlds I got to document last year brought to life Netflix's Bridgerton. The experience took guests to Lady Whistledown's Society Ball in 1813. A magnificent evening of performance, surprise, secrets and perhaps other less-refined activities... ⁠
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Did you manage to attend the ball?⁠


3 - Disclosure (Live) at Brixton Academy - 4th March

Disclosure retraced their steps in London bringing the heat to Heaven, Brixton Academy and Ally Pally over 3 consecutive sweaty nights back in March. I first shot the boys over 10 years ago now and their rise has been phenomenal. Looking back at those photos is 🙈, perhaps a post for another day!⁠


4 - James Bay (Live) at Kentish Town Forum - 5th May

So my 4th highlight from last year is when James Bay played the O2 Forum Kentish Town back in May. My friend Liam (on lights for this show) said it's only a little rig as it's an intimate show but failed to mention he somehow squeezed the sun on stage. A show of incredible silhouettes.⁠


5 - Dua Lipa at The O2 London - 4th May

I was lucky enough to catch @dualipa's Future Nostalgia tour twice last year and as far as arena shows go this was THE one. The dancers, the outfit changes, the lighting, the levitating moment and the confetti were all on point. I could have easily posted 30 images from this one and still had more to share.⁠


6 - BICEP at Wide Awake Festival - 27th May
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Is anyone else ready for summer yet? I spent 8 beautiful days in Brockwell Park last year shooting for a variety of different festivals. The opener Wide Awake was a definite highlight - who doesn't like 🌈 lasers, amazing 🌇 and crowd 🏄.


7 - Mighty Hoopla - 4th June

Another highlight from Brockwell Park this year was Mighty Hoopla! Hailed as the UK’s most-fabulous pop extravaganza, Hoopla is always BURSTING with colour, love and pride. It is always the most fun to shoot, thanks to @mikeportlock_lifeafterlife and @emilymarcovecchio who smashed it joining me on the photo team this year!

⁠⁠⁠Roll on the Weekender at Butlins at the end of the month…


8 - Wilkinson Summer Tour
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Back in the summer, I joined Wilkinson on the road for 9 festivals across the UK. Taking us from big tops to main stages, helicopters to BMX, beaches to woodlands and even a little rainbow mid-flight.


9 - Greenday - 24th June

Last June also saw me headed back to the London Stadium for the first time post-pandemic with an electric performance from Green Day headlining the Hella Mega Tour complete with a finale of green fireworks.⁠
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The ex-Olympic stadium is both aesthetically pleasing in shape and design as well as a great venue to shoot at with easy access to different levels unlike some other large stadiums *cough* Wembley *cough*.⁠


10 - Dirty Dancing - 8th July

Amidst the heatwave of last summer, the Class of ‘63 headed back to the Catskills for cha-chas and cocktails at Kellerman’s! ⁠


11 - Coldplay at Wembley Stadium - 20th August

August was unforgettable, two shows at Wembley Arena with Coldplay! I'm not sure I can describe the atmosphere in words but it was absolutely electric, hopefully, these pictures do it justice...


12 - Lewis Capaldi - 2nd September

I don't think any year is complete without a @lewiscapaldi c̶o̶m̶e̶d̶y̶ s̶h̶o̶w̶ gig. For Bruises, he appeared playing the piano from a floating stage way above the stage. Turns out he's scared of heights, something he regretted agreeing to in rehearsals and then he announced, and I quote, 'the whole thing is a f****** facade, I'm not even playing the piano' as the song continued to play with his hands in the air.⁠
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13 - Above & Beyond's Group Therapy Weekender - 10-11th September

In September the Anjuna team were the first to put a show on at a new open-air space in London called Dockyards. Nestled under the flight path of inbound flights to City Airport it felt like the UK's answer to DC10's terrace.⁠
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There was a rather magical moment during @andrewbayer's set when a whole rainbow appeared above the crowd.⁠


14 - Secret Cinema presents Guardians of The Galaxy

The third and final world of Secret Cinema last year was Marvel's Guardians of The Galaxy.⁠
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With a Gathering of the Clans, the ravages rose up meeting in Contraxia for an intergalactic adventure. Teran treasures were traded, dance offs were had with the Star-Lord but there was a more sinister plot unfolding behind the scenes.⁠
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But did the Guardians save the Galaxy in time from Taneleer Tivan?!⁠


15 - The Beams Opening

2022 saw a new cultural space opening in East London called The Beams. It's been an interesting challenge to navigate this huge new space, photographing the opening shows accompanied by the soundtrack of Michael Bibi, Maceo Plex, Denis Sulta, Patrick Topping and many more, it has been a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what they have lined up for their next chapter.

Have you checked it out yet?


16 - Swedish House Mafia at The O2 - 2nd October 2022

I remember watching the live stream of Swedish House Mafia's last show at Ultra Miami in 2013 before they parted ways. I'd only really just begun shooting shows back then and thought it was a shame I'd never get the chance to experience one. It took nearly 10 years but finally, after they'd been reunited back on the road for a few years, our paths crossed and I got the opportunity to shoot the show at The O2 and it didn't disappoint. ⁠


17 - Rina - 26th October 2022

Back in October, I had the opportunity to shoot Rina Sawayama for the first time at Brixton Academy through her Lighting Designer. The pairing turned out to be a killer combo with epic looks and moments.⁠


18 - Cirque du Soleil - Amora - 24th November 2022

In November I managed to squeeze in a couple of days in Malta to photograph the premiere of my third Cirque du Soleil show, Amora. While it's difficult to fully capture the epicness of the performances in a single image, here's a little peek at what went down.⁠
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One exceptionally breathtaking act was @miyoko.shida's sanddorn balance. The audience was so captivated that you could have heard a pin drop in the theatre. Definitely, one to Google if you missed out on the show.⁠
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Thanks to my Malta family as always for inviting me out!⁠


19 - BICEP - 3rd December 2022

🚨 Sunday Story time…

I first photographed @feelmybicep back in 2013, it was a @buggedoutclub night at @whp_mcr (back when it was at Victoria Warehouse). It was Chemical Brothers headlining the main room and my friend Seb tipped me off to go and check out BICEP in room 3. Needless to say, my photos were absolutely terrible (see the last 2 slides) but I’m glad I did! Since then I’ve caught their sets across the globe, a particular highlight was a sunrise set in Croatia a few years back.

So it was incredible to be invited down to shoot at their sold-out Ally Pally shows almost 10 years on, I can't wait to see what's next!

ps. this is the second time the rainbow lasers have made it into my 2022 highlights, credit to the lovely heads from @zeallive and @aclasersandsfx


20 - Fred Again - 26th October 2022

Like most discovering Fred Again was a lockdown affair with his track Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing) ft. The Blessed Madonna so to see him live post-pandemic has been a real joy, especially after seeing those clips of his set at Coachella. This wasn't quite as sunny but the atmosphere was tropical.⁠


21 - Fairyland - 18th December 2022

Chronologically coming up to the end of 2022, I start to round off my highlights with a festive trip to Malta for their annual Fairyland event. This tropical twist on Winter Wonderland swaps out traditional Christmas trees for palm trees and replaces snow with sunshine, but still brings all the holiday cheer from Santa and his elves.⁠
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I’m not gonna lie, I'm all about these winter sun jobs, my calendar is definitely open again for trips next Winter. I even got to catch the World Cup final in the ☀️, already a distant memory though as I write this and it’s -6 outside ❄️⁠


22 - EPA Awards - 26th October 2022

And last but not least, my final highlight from 2022 was The Event Photography Awards (@the_epas). I entered the competition quite late on whilst I was meant to be enjoying some ‘time off’ on holiday but I managed to submit my entries with, quite literally, seconds to spare.⁠
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I had 5 images short-listed in total going on to have two highly commended photos in the ‘Brand Activations & Experiential Events’ category and winning ’Corporate Events & Conferences' and ‘Cultural Events’ categories. If that wasn’t enough, I went on to win the 'Overall Winner' prize selected from all of the category winners.⁠
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I’m not gonna lie, I was absolutely shocked, like jaw to the floor shocked, but over the moon! I can’t recommend to everyone enough to enter this year, it was a lovely excuse for a night out. It must have been a hilarious sight to see me navigating the tube with a giant comedy cheque.⁠
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I promise it’s not gone to my head � ⁠