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Seeing stars
TICKETS for this year's Leeds Festival at Bramham Park may have sold out in double quick time but Nick Pickles is guaranteed a perch right down the front.
That's because the 24-year-old, who works in public relations, combines his day job with a passion for rock photography.
It means he gets up close and personal with some of the biggest names in the music world like Amy Winehouse, The Verve and REM.
Last year he covered no fewer than 90 gigs and eight festivals and as resident photographer for Leeds Met University he gets to snap all the big bands who play in the city.
"I used to work on the photo counter at Boots," recalls Nick, from Wakefield. "80 per cent of the photos we developed were of dogs, babies and weddings.
"Then one day I saw a picture of a guy flinging a guitar around and I thought that looked far more exciting."
Nick got his first point-and-shoot camera for his 21st birthday. He was at university at the time and started taking photos of gigs.
"The biggest band I got to photograph was Coldplay, although it was a bit tricky as I had no zoom and it wasn't great in low light."
After investing in a better camera, Nick got his big break when he was hired by a London agency to cover the Across The Tracks music festival in Leeds two years ago.
It gave him the experience he needed and in 2007 he found himself whizzing across the country to cover all the major music events.
"The BBC asked me to cover the T in the Park festival in Scotland for their website and that was absolutely brilliant.
"I also did V Festival and found myself on stage with Lost Prophets at the Leeds Festival."
Nick's been up close and personal with some of the biggest bands in the business.
His first nationally-published photo was of Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs playing a secret gig at Leeds Met in February 2007, which was used by The Times.
Since then he has photographed The Verve, Radiohead, Stereophonics, Pete Doherty, The Pigeon Detectives and Amy Winehouse, to name just a few.
"There are definitely some bands that are easier to photograph than others," he says. "The Pigeon Detectives are always good because Matt, the lead singer, puts so much energy into it.
"Although he does have a habit of spraying you with water so you have to watch out for that.
"If I never take another picture of Amy Winehouse it won't bother me at all.
"At Glastonbury the photo pit was mad with every single photographer at the festival crammed in.
"There were about a hundred of us, all fighting for a good spot. I think it was more exciting than what was happening on stage."
Nick says his ambition is to photograph Oasis and The Rolling Stones before hanging up his camera.
"It's a lot of fun and there are some fantastic perks," says Nick, who has ambitions to get into politics.
"I love knowing people from all over the world are seeing my pictures and I haven't paid to get into a gig for three years.
"But being realistic it's a hobby and ultimately it's something that's probably best left to people who really want to make it their number one career."
To see more of Nick's photographs go to www.music-photographer.co.uk.
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
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