Friday brought with it the sombre news that the much loved music magazine The Fly is to be no more, having finally succumbed to financial pressure.
As both a reader and contributor I am truly saddened, however I cannot be too morbid because shooting for the mag has gifted me with some of my most random and fun photography moments thus far. I feel I must pay tribute by sharing a few out-takes.
My first commission was back in 2011 and was to get a portrait of the legendary Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus who proved to be so charismatic and cool, myself and JJ the editor left with complete crushes (to be fair, JJ’s was more out of musical respect…I think).
From then on I found myself and my camera in various situations including trespassing with Cass McCombs, having a band member strip naked mid shoot to take a cold shower, discovering a whole wall of hair (yes a wall of HAIR!) in Dalston, and discovering I can’t tell the difference between a Peace sign and a Mercedes emblem. I was also fortunate enough to land a trip to Barcelona last year to cover Primavera, albeit spending less than 24 hours there, but it’s the most incredible festival I have been to and I will definitely go back.
I have all these memories and countless more thanks to JJ and Ben from the magazine who sent all these opportunities my way. I truly hope they move on to greater things and I am incredibly thankful to them for the complete creative freedom they afforded me each time.
Boys, good luck with the next x