Shot at labelhood where emerging designers showcase their work.

by Hugh O'Malley, Beauty Photographer and Videographer based in Shanghai

I’d always been a fan of this duo’s work and every season their ongoing collaborations with couture designer iris van herpen were always something to look forward to.

when I was still a fine art student in Chelsea college, there was an event one night in the V&A with many famous photographers talking about their work. The talks were occurring simultaneously so you could only pick one photographer’s talk. Paolo Roversi, Tim Walker or Warren and Nick. Tough choice, ay? I can respect Tim Walker and he’s obviously a legend in the industry but I was never a huge fan of his whimsical, fey style, despite owning a couple of his books.

It was a tough choice – roversi or du preez and thornton jones. in the end I took the road less travelled by, went to listen to the illustrious duo and that made all the difference.

Although rather secretive about their technical technique they were very forthcoming about their creative path and how they approach working and what their goals were. I really found listening to them incredibly inspiring and I dreamt of creating work like theirs one day.

by Hugh O'Malley, Beauty Photographer and Videographer based in Shanghai

yeah I know I said I’d share some of my previous work next but i lied. I thought I’d share a few samples of artists I like and pick apart why I find them inspirational. I’ll do it post by post for simplicity.

by Hugh O'Malley, Beauty Photographer and Videographer based in Shanghai

Ahhhh you gotta love Kraftwerk. I was watching a documentary about Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre called “The Defiant Ones” about their experience coming up in the music industry to becoming eventual billionaires with Beats by Dr. Dre. Some of Dr Dre’s old crew were talking about the early days in the studio and I forget exactly who it was that said that at the dawn of rap and hip hop Kraftwerk were a massive influence on them! I was flabbergasted!

So i relistened to some old kraftwerk and was blown away by ‘The Model’. Sure it’s a product of its era but it still holds up well today. A wonderful mish mash of Teutonic sensibility with a wholehearted embrace of a technology that was totally raw at the time. When you marry this potent mix to the group’s functional grasp of the language you get a really heady mixture. It shouldn’t be good but it just works!

After downloading their greatest hits though and trudging through most of it, i’m not so sure about the rest of their oeuvre. Some of it has aged like milk.

by Hugh O'Malley, Beauty Photographer and Videographer based in Shanghai

A police car and a screaming siren
A pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete
A baby wailing and stray dog howling
The screech of brakes and lamp light blinking

That’s entertainment, that’s entertainment

A smash of glass and the rumble of boots
An electric train and a ripped up phone booth
Paint splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat
Lights going out and a kick in the balls

I tell ya that’s entertainment, that’s entertainment

Watched The Gentlemen movie directed by Guy Ritchie. Enjoyable yarn. Heard this over the end credits and was struck by Paul Weller’s poetry. Classic song.

by Hugh O'Malley, Beauty Photographer and Videographer based in Shanghai

I can’t recommend Brandon Li’s Channel enough. I’m starting to shoot more and more video and he’s been a source of inspiration not only for camera technique but also for editing and everything from how to pace your videos, the most intuitive use of transitions, how to shoot people and analyses of what kinds of music to use in your videos. Check out his film seoul_wave which was the first piece of his work that i watched. super talented and always enjoyable.

If you’re an emerging filmmaker or even vaguely interested in creative videos it’ll be worth your time.

by Hugh O'Malley, Beauty Photographer and Videographer based in Shanghai

it’s a bit of a cliché but sometimes there are books that really resonate with you, where you are in life, reflect exactly how you’re feeling – your current malaise.  i picked this book up knowing absolutely nothing about it i honestly just liked the cover and took it home, sneak reading it when the brats were comatose.  it chronicles the travails of a worn out new yorker and her attempts to sleep away a life of cares which she has born and yet must bear.  well not a life exactly but one year.  she uses various cocktails of pharmaceutical grade sleepers to wipe out the bullshit.

the tone is fairly emotionless, matter of fact, even though the underlying subject matter is anything but.  self loathing, dead parents, ennui, disgust for contemporary so – called life…

she works in an art gallery and skewers nicely the emptiness of it all. also murders contemporary materialism.  a breath of fucking fresh air… go and read it if you can. ok there’s a lot of dead parents and funerals and drugs in it but don’t be dismayed by the subject matter. it’s really a breezy read…

by Hugh O'Malley, Beauty Photographer and Videographer based in Shanghai