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Articles> Nick Sinclair
When Suffolk’s Maverick Festival first opened in 2008, photographer Nick Sinclair spent hours weaving around hay bales, lighting rigs and amplifyers to capture images that reflected the joy, energy and sheer mastery of the festivals’ American Roots Music performers. With the sound of guitars and banjos still twanging in his ears, he returned to his studio to sift through the thousands of photos he had taken during the three-day event to create a visual record of what the organizers hoped would be the first of many festivals at Easton Farm Park in Easton, near Woodbridge, Suffolk.
‘I did it because I wanted to support the enterprise,’ Nick says from his studio in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, as he prepares for the 2010 festival. ‘I am a fan of live music and it was my way of pitching in and doing something that I hoped was going to succeed over time. I’ve always photographed people, I enjoy the experience of meeting different people, and musicians are a clan of their own.’
This element, this feeling of ‘clan’, is one of the elusive qualities that draws Nick back, year after year. Another is the rawness of real life – of loving, hating and hurting – as reflected in each performer’s lyrics. Add to this the integrity that permeates the performers and their acts, and the stage is set for the possibility of evocative, insightful photographs.
‘They are people who spend a long time learning their instruments and writing their material,’ Nick says. ‘It’s a kind of craft, and it’s satisfying watching people who are good at their craft.’
Now, as the countdown to the next Maverick Festival begins, Nick has started touring with a just a small selection of his portfolio: the portraits. Amongst those musicians represented are Otis Gibbs, Groanbox Boys, Mark Olson, Alana Levandoski , Elizabeth Cook and Cara Luft.
‘When you’re photographing them, you’re always trying to find something that makes sense of them and makes sense of your encounter with them. It’s always a bit of a challenge because obviously people have their photography face that they put on, whereas I try to make sense of what would be a good image of them,’ Nick says of the photographs he has chosen to exhibit. ‘You have to accept it’s not like meeting your next door neighbour. There’s a certain kind of energy which goes with the performance, before or after, which you have to work around, so sometimes people can be a little excited or tense.’...
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