Tag Archives: Event Photography

My Favourite images of 2018

January 6, 2019 by admin | Comments Off

So long 2018! The passing of a year is always a good time to reflect on the past 12 months, and for me that means looking back through a LOT of photos. Taking a step back and looking at my work over the course of a whole year, I’m struck by varied it has been – I’ve documented community projects, music events, travel destinations; taken portraits of new-born babies, business leaders, artists and musicians; and I’ve photographed weddings, gigs, poetry readings, conferences and festivals. It’s been a blast!

To save you having to look through a year’s worth of (rather splendid) blog posts, I’ve collected together a selection of my favourite images from 2018 to create a super-duper-blow-your-mind-with-it’s-awesomeness gallery, which you can view below. There’s a mixture of portraits, documentary shots, gig pictures, landscapes and wedding photographs. I hope you enjoy them (please let me know your favourites in the comments section).

Heading into 2019 I’m incredibly excited to see what the next 12 months will bring. Thank you so much to all of the wonderful people and organisations that I’ve worked with in 2018, and to all of my fabulous family and friends for their continuing support. Happy new year everyone, lets make 2019 a belter!

Rachel x

Posted in Arts Photography, Bands, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography, landscape photography, Music Photography, Photography, Places, Portraits, travel photography, Wedding Photography Also tagged 2018, best photos, both sides now, Brighter Sound, collection, Concert, dazzley badger, favourite images, Manchester, Music Photography, retrospective, Scotland, Travel, Wedding, year in review |

Manchester Hill Remembered, Part 2

May 17, 2018 by admin | Comments Off

Manchester Hill Remembered was a one-off event, held at Manchester Cathedral on 13th April, 2018. Organised by Brighter Sound, Manchester City Council and Manchester Histories, ‘Manchester Hill Remembered’ saw performances of brand new pieces of work from local musicians and spoken word artists Young Identity, all inspired by the battle of Manchester Hill 100 years ago. They were accompanied by Cinematic Orchestra members, Luke Flowers, Stuart McCallum and John Ellis, composer Katie Chatburn, singer-song writers Liam Frost and Seaming-To, The King’s Division Band, Northern Voices, the Ignition Orchestra, and award winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts alongside spectacular visuals by Digital multimedia artist Rebecca Smith of Urban Projections .

It was an incredible performance. The gallery below contains some of my favourite images from the night.

Posted in Bands, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography, Music Photography Also tagged Brighter Sound, cinematic orchestra, Gig, gig photography, inna voice, John Ellis, Katie Chatburn, liam frost, luke flowers, Manchester, manchester cathedral, manchester city council, Manchester Hill, Manchester hill remembered, manchester histories, Michael Symmons Roberts, stuart mccallum, Young Identity |

Manchester Hill Remembered, Part 1

May 17, 2018 by admin | Comments Off

A collaboration between Brighter Sound, Manchester City Council and Manchester Histories, ‘Manchester Hill Remembered’ was a special, one-off cultural event to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of a near-forgotten WWI battle, where 79 men from Manchester lost their lives holding a hill against advancing German forces.

A group of emerging musicians and spoken word artists (Young Identity) from Manchester were given just one week to create a selection of new works to commemorate the battle at a very special event held at Manchester’s Cathedral. They were mentored by Cinematic Orchestra members, Luke Flowers, Stuart McCallum and John Ellis, composer Katie Chatburn, and singer-song writers Liam Frost and Seaming-To. The King’s Division Band, Northern Voices, the Ignition Orchestra and award winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts also joined the group towards the end of the week to rehearse specially prepared pieces for the event.

The gallery below contains some of my favourite images from the first week of the project, when the musicians and spoken word artists were holed-up in Chethams School of Music, creating and rehearsing their new works.

Posted in Bands, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography Also tagged Brighter Sound, cinematic orchestra, Concert, gig photography, inna voice, John Ellis, Katie Chatburn, liam frost, luke flowers, Manchester, manchester cathedral, manchester city council, Manchester Hill, Manchester hill remembered, manchester histories, Michael Symmons Roberts, Music Photography, sturart mcCallum, Young Identity |

Pee Wee Ellis FUNK: Foundation, Brighter Sound’s Artistic Director Series #009

August 31, 2017 by admin | Comments Off

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of photographing the legendary saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis as part of Brighter Sound’s 9th Artistic Director Series, FUNK: Foundation. Pew Wee was a major part of James Brown’s band in the 1960s and co-wrote several of the Godfather of Soul’s greatest hits. Alongside the supremely talented trumpeter Gary Winters, Pee Wee worked with a group of 15 young musicians over the course of 4 days to create a roof-raising funk-tastic one-off performance at Band on the Wall.

I’ve collated a selection of my favourite images from the residency in the gallery below for you to enjoy. Stay funky people!

Posted in Bands, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography, Music Photography, Photography Also tagged Band on the Wall, Brighter Sound, Concert, Funk Assembly, Funk Foundation, Gary Winters, Gig, gig photography, Manchester, Music Photography, Pee Wee Ellis, saxophonist |

Eska: Are You Here – Cinemagraphs

June 15, 2017 by admin | Comments Off

Alongside my usual documentary-style photography of the ‘Eska: Are You Here‘ Artistic Director residency from Brighter Sound, I also took some footage to create the following cinemagraphs (featuring the hugely talented Tal Janes, Tomas Pocinho, Marcus Joseph and Joy Ellis).

Cinemagraph of a guitar player, guitarist, Tal Janes, at Brighter Sound Eska: Are You Here, Artistic Director Series, Band on The Wall, Manchester, Rachel Bywater Photography Cinemagraph of a saxophone player, saxophonist, Marcus Joseph, at Brighter Sound Eska: Are You Here, Artistic Director Series, Band on The Wall, Manchester, Rachel Bywater Photography cinemagraph key board player, Joy Ellis, Brighter Sound, band on The Wall, Manchester, Rachel Bywater Photography

Posted in Bands, cinemagraph, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography, Music Photography, Photography, Portraits Also tagged Band on the Wall, Brighter Sound, cinemagraph, cinemagraphs, Concert, drummer, drums, Eska, Gig, gig photography, guitar, guitarist, keyboard player, Manchester, Music Photography, saxophone, saxophonist |

My Music, My Manchester

November 10, 2016 by admin | Comments Off

My Music, My Manchester was an ambitious project from a collaboration of partners including My Hub, Brighter Sound and Manchester Camerata, to produce am intensive week long creative residency for a diverse group of young musicians and artists, led by singer, songwriter and activist Meklit , culminating in a very special one off performance at the BBC Philharmonic studio at Media City. You can see some of my favourite images from the workshops at Band on the Wall and the incredible final performance in the gallery below.

Like what you see? Follow me on facebook and instagram!

my-manchester-my-music-logos

Posted in Bands, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography, Music Photography Also tagged Band on the Wall, BBC Philharmonic, Brighter Sound, Concert, Gig, gig photography, Manchester, Meklit, Music Photography, My Hub, My Music My Manchester |

Imogen Heap Residency with Brighter Sound

October 20, 2016 by admin | Comments Off

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of working with Brighter Sound again, this time documenting their latest Artistic Director residency, with singer and composer Imogen Heap. Under Imogen’s guidance, in just 5 days a group of 10 talented young musicians, who had never met before, managed to write, produce and release a song, film and edit a music video, create the single cover art, produce an exhibition and put on a live show at Manchester’s Band on The Wall. It was an incredible achievement and a real privilege top document. They named their band Frink Frink and their song, Marble, is now available to purchase on itunes and all good online music stores.

You can see a selection of my favourite images from the residency below.

If you like these images please follow me on facebook and instagram

Posted in Bands, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography, Music Photography Also tagged Band on the Wall, Brighter Sound, Concert, Frink Frink, Gig, gig photography, Imogen Heap, Manchester, Marble, Music Photography |

Test Card Live, BBC Music Day

June 6, 2016 by admin | Comments Off

On Friday I had the pleasure of working with the ever-excellent Brighter Sound again, photographing Test Card Live – a showcase of audiovisual performances as part of BBC Music Day. The event started with a workshop in analogue electronics and graphical sound from Noise Orchestra, followed by performances from some hugely talented artists including Benjamen Finney and Michael-Jon Mizra, both Brighter sound commissions. You can see some of my favourite images from the night below.

Posted in Bands, Documentary photography, Events, Gig Photography, Music Photography Also tagged audiovisual, BBC Music Day, Benjamen Finney, Brighter Sound, Gig, gig photography, MadLab, Manchester, Micael-Jon Mizra, Music Photography, Noise Orchestra, Test Card Live, Texture |

Ren Harvieu & Romeo Stodart, Chorlton Arts Festival 2016

June 1, 2016 by admin | Comments Off

One of the highlight’s of this year’s Chorlton Arts Festival was a performance from Ren Harvieu & Romeo Stodart (of the Magic Numbers). It was an incredible gig, full of warmth and intimacy, and well deserving of the rapturous standing ovation it received at it’s close. You can see some of my images from the evening in the gallery below:

Posted in Bands, Events, Gig Photography, Music Photography Also tagged Chorlton, Chorlton Arts Festival, Concert, Gig, gig photography, Magic Numbers, Manchester, Music Photography, Ren Harvieu, Romeo Stodart, St Ninians |

The Switchover, Chorlton Arts Festival 2016

May 23, 2016 by admin | Comments Off

Yesterday I got to play along with ‘The Switchover‘, a Theatre Exterior production by The Larks theatre company for Chorlton Arts Festival. Part theatre and part game, it involved travelling around the local metrolink network looking for clues and talking to various colourful characters. As is usual in Manchester, we started off with glorious sunshine and ended with a torrential downpour but it was a lot of fun for everyone and a great and was a great experience for young and old. Here are my images from the event.