New Orleans to Notting Hill

Henry Butler live at Preservation Hall, New Orleans

Last night I went to the private view of a fantastic exhibition of Music Photography held by two friends at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill. Edu Hawkins and Jamie Foale of Foale & Sons collaborated to bring together the music photography of Edu, combined with the innovative gilding technique of Foale & Sons. The exhibition depicts music photography from New Orleans to Notting Hill, via music events from around the world.

After Foale & Sons' debut exhibition at the Tabernacle in November 2011, Jamie approached Edu with the idea of holding an exhibition that would combine their gilding technique with his musical photographs.

Edu and Jamie met at Leeds University, since graduating Edu has been working as a photographer, capturing some of the biggest names in the music world, both in concert and behind the scenes. During this time Jamie established the arts company Foale & Son with his mother and brother. Their aim was to experiment with different gilding techniques, applying them to art and furniture, all of which is handmade from their studio in Kensal Rise. After investing in a high quality inkjet printer they developed a technique of mounting printed images onto acrylic and gilding behind them with silver leaf. 

This process added another dimension to the photographs, giving them a real depth and luminosity which they previously didn't have. Most of the photos portray Jazz musicians, hence the exhibition being held during the London Jazz Festival.  

Musicians you can expect to see are, Gil Scott-Heron, BB King, VV Brown, Lauren Hill, Abram Wilson, Henry Butler, Elvis Costello, Jarvis Cocker, Friendly Fires, Mumford & Sons plus many more.

The image illustrated at the top of this post was one of my favourites, it shows Henry Butler, a blind New Orleans pianist, playing an intimate midnight show in New Orleans' most famous venue, Preservation Hall. Butler is described by possibly the greatest living ambassador for New Orleans music, Dr John, as "the pride of New Orleans...a visionistical down-home cat and hellified piano plunker to boot." Another favourite of mine was this image,

Gil Scott Heron Portrait

Scott Heron is regarded as one of the pioneers of hip-hop and rap, often referred to as 'The Godfather of Rap,' a title he shunned. Above is an exclusive dressing room portrait following his final performance in the UK before his death in May 2011, aged 62. This image clearly shows off the gilding process behind the photo, really bringing it to life!