Justine Trickett | Photographer & Writer

British photographer Justine Trickett's blog on tumblr

[justinetrickett]

Night time was how I experienced Hong Kong when I first visited with Decanter in 2012. We were working during the day in a warehouse in the New Territories but I would explore Hong Kong Island in the evenings.

In November I went back to Hong Kong and I re-visited my love of walking around the city at night, shooting a roll of CineStill 800T film in the process. Night time gives me chance to recharge and I enjoy being in an environment with things going on around me but not necessarily involving myself in them. These photos are very much about that.

The full set 'Hong Kong by Night' is now up on my site

[justinetrickett]

I went to Bloodstock this year in a non-working capacity but I loved everyone’s patch jackets so much that I decided to do a little personal project on the Saturday and Sunday

My main thoughts were that I loved how everyone’s jacket was different and a reflection of their personality, and that it also tied them together in a community whereby no one was elevated above anyone else. There are band members in here (I think) but to me they were just another interesting person in a patch jacket.

Another thought was that many people see Bloodstock as an unattractive festival, and certainly those outside the scene can see fans of black/extreme metal as scary. However, when you turn the camera on the fans for a straightforward portrait it's easier to see beyond the scene's image and that the people involved are only human. Some people smile, some joke about, some look awkward, just like anyone who likes r'n'b or pop music.

So here’s a set of portraits of people in patch jackets at Bloodstock. Two photos for each, one front and one back, so you can tie the person to the jacket. It may not be the most interesting photographically but this set’s about the people.

See the full set here

[justinetrickett]

MUNA at The Great Escape, May 2016

[justinetrickett]

KLOE at The Great Escape, May 2016

[justinetrickett]

The Brambly Hedge books were my favourite as a child. Tales of mice preparing for feasts or salt panning by sea were accompanied by the most intricate illustrations of homes they'd made in sand dunes or hollowed out trees. There were always a few secret staircases and doorways, places to get lost or squirrel yourself away, and finding these in the drawings was such a treat.

When out in the fields I would dream that I could make myself a home in a tree. Not a treehouse, but in the tree itself. It would look inconspicuous from the outside save for perhaps a small door.

[justinetrickett]

The ivy crept into the stonework of my childhood house. A few leaves would always curl inside the the windowsill, they seemed invincible and as though they had more of a right to be there than I did.

I was regularly reminded that the house was its own being. Scratching under the floorboards and scuffling behind the shelves conjured up ghosts at night, and birds and mice during the day. A large spider held a corner of the back stairs. No matter how many times it was ushered outside it always reappeared.

It was all draughts, crumbling and peeling. Nature had found a way in and it was beautiful.

[justinetrickett]

London's New Breed of Wine Bars, SUITCASE magazine

I recently wrote and photographed a piece on wine bars in London for SUITCASE magazine's website. This is my pick of the cool, young wine bars that aren't serving the same bottles you find everywhere else.

I have my own history in the wine trade and it remains one of my passions so it's been great to put my knowledge to good use in this piece. If you talk to me about wine you'll find that I'm also genuinely excited about younger generations becoming interested in wine and passing on their knowledge in an unpretentious way. Yes, wine is complicated but a great way to learn would be to go to one of these bars and talk to the staff over a glass. Chin chin!

London's New Breed of Wine Bars can be read in full on SUITCASE

[justinetrickett]

Flowers. From the archive.

[justinetrickett]

BABYMETAL, March 2016

A super quick portrait of Moa, Su and Yui after their interview with Gigwise in London. I had 9 minutes and used the lighting and backdrop that was available at the time.

A few days later I saw them live at Wembley Arena and it was one of the most entertaining shows I've been to. I have a lot of respect for these young ladies, including their ability to hold the attention of a metal crowd for almost two hours.

[justinetrickett]

RA Lates: The Garden at Night, March 2016

The Royal Academy of Arts runs a series called RA Lates. These are evenings relating to current exhibitions and in addition to giving attendees access to the exhibiton they also incorporate music, food, art workshops and encourage dress-up along the theme of the event.

I photographed The Garden at Night recently and loved it. Flowers everywhere and such a brilliant atmosphere - you can see from the photos that everyone was really relaxed and enjoying it.

To see more, the full gallery by myself and Jenna Foxton is over on the RA's flickr.

[justinetrickett]

Fearless Vampire Killers - the Newcastle date of their Bruises tour, March 2016

As of today the remaining UK tour dates are: March 7th - Liverpool, Arts Club March 8th - Cardiff, Clwb ifor Bach March 9th - Southampton, The Maple Leaf March 10th - Norwich, The Arts Centre

Full details and tickets are over on fearlessvampirekillers.com if you want to catch a show, and they'll be out in Europe for a headline tour in May.

[justinetrickett]

Creeper, December 2015

A couple of outtakes from the feature I shot with Creeper at a childrens' fairground in Southampton. I loved the location and really enjoyed pairing the band members up with different settings for both the group and solo portraits.

Here's Dan, Ian and Hannah doing a sterling job at keeping their eyes open in a pretty unforgiving wind. You can see the full feature in the latest issue of Rock Sound.

Massive thanks to Fred for letting us into the park for a couple of hours, this wouldn't have looked so good without the location and the band loved playing on the rides.

[justinetrickett]

Photography for D&D London, at their restaurants Plateau and 100 Wardour St.

[justinetrickett]

The Black Queen, February 2016

Certain bands will inspire you to work in a particular style. There are high-energy rock bands who look great in punchy, full colour digital photos. And then you have The Black Queen, whose dark side is very much to the fore, and complemented by a strong monotone aesthetic.

I bought a ticket for their London show, the first one on European soil and second ever, and intended to go as a fan but couldn't help being inspired by their music and visuals to the point where I put my film camera in my handbag. Considering my love of black and white film, it wasn't hard to convince myself that it was worth taking a few photos and having a play around with style.

I took 18 frames at the gig, and these are the four that I like. To be honest, it's not a bad hit rate, especially if you consider that each shot was manually focused and I was switching between two prime lenses. A little editing in Lightroom has helped smooth things out but this is mostly true to the negative.

Some background on the first photo can be read in a post on my Instagram.

Nikon FM2 x Ilford Delta 3200

[justinetrickett]

On Valentine’s.

My instinctive reaction to Valentine’s Day is two middle fingers up. I approach it with bitterness. Yet, as with anything I’m strongly against, I’ve been questioning why I do.

“Surely Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, and how can you be against that?”, says a voice in my head. I think the key to my frustration is that it only celebrates one kind of love, ‘courtly love’ if you want to go back a few hundred years, or ‘romantic love’, the being ‘in love’, to use today’s wording. It’s not that I’m bitter that people all over the world have found this for themselves, but rather that being ‘in love’ seems to have been elevated to a higher status than any other kind of love. More precisely, for anyone not exchanging “I love you”s with a romantic partner on Valentine’s Day, it’s a yearly reminder that society expects something of you. That you’re not seen as a whole and complete person until you’ve found your other half (the simple wording of that now saying more than I ever realised).

Due to this societal expectation, I think many people avoid talking about love even on a noncommittal level. Or won’t say to their friends that they love them in more than just a heart emoji or a few enthusiastic kisses at the end of a message. I know that I’d personally be hesitant of sincerely saying to a friend that I love them, even if it’s clear that it’s purely platonic, because there’s often a knee-jerk reaction to it. For some reason if someone shows that level of openness, honesty and kindness we assume they expect something, emotionally or otherwise, in return. I’ve been thinking a lot about the work/sacrifice equalling reward/pleasure dynamic recently, and maybe it’s something to do with this - that we see telling someone you love them as a kind of sacrifice and are therefore connecting it with expecting something from them in return. Whatever the reason, I think love of every kind should be discussed freely, without worrying about where those conversations might take us, and also valued equally.

So this Valentine’s Day I want to echo Maria Bello and say “Love Is Love”. I’m going to give two fingers up to the bitterness for a change, and celebrate the love in my life that isn’t romantic love. I want to say “I love you” to my family and friends, to anyone who’s ever supported me, respected and challenged me at the same time, made me laugh when I was sad, or very simply just made me feel like being me was enough. I love you all. Please keep being open and honest, and if you’re single know that you are loved and you will find your own way.

And finally, to myself, here’s some tough love: for fuck’s sake, stop being so scared to be you.

[justinetrickett]

Self-portaits; untitled project

[justinetrickett]

Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco, January 2016

Backstage photos can be really hard to pull off quickly. My usual style when it comes to behind-the-scenes is to shoot in an unobtrusive way, using available light, but this takes a lot of patience and time. In this instance I had 7 minutes.

I decided to try something different, something that goes completely against my usual style and depended heavily on the subject being able to turn it on for the camera instantly: 'pap' style photos using harsh, unforgiving, head-on flash. I gave Brendon the cue of his 'a day in the life of a rock star' Vines and BAM, he nailed it.

This is all Brendon, he's a superstar. Thank you for making my life easier and for not questioning my potentially horribly cheesy ideas. Hopefully one day we'll be able to do a really classy shoot to make up for it.

Taken for Rock Sound, see the full gallery here