A MUSIC photographer who has captured more than 60,000 images of famous rock musicians and bands including Bryan Adams and Metallica will be showcasing his work at his debut exhibition this month.
Mark Hylands (23) from Bleary will be exhibiting 32 photographs from his extensive personal collection at his exhibit ‘Seen a Million Faces’ at the Safehouse Gallery in Belfast from today (Friday).
Having graduated from the University of Ulster, M
ark has spent the past two years working as a professional photographer gaining access to countless high profile artists and bands like Def Leppard and Huey Lewis and the News.
A job which combines his two passions of photography and music, Mark says he has a personal ‘one-to-one’ approach to his work. He often works with an artist or band on tour and he believes it is his ‘documentary’-style which gives fans a “greater insight” into their idols.
“Artists and bands give me access because they trust me. They know that if they want some personal space they can tell me at any point and I’ll leave them alone,” he said.
“They also know that I’m not going to take a photograph of them doing something which they shouldn’t and leak it to the press.”
The former Portadown College pupil says photographing musicians began as a hobby when he was a teenager. “I would take my camera to a concert, get there early so I could get a good position at the front of the stage. Then I would be the only one still there after the gig had ended still clicking away,” he explains.
He refers to Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, who was responsible for Irish band U2’s iconic album cover foir ‘The Joshua Tree’, as a contemporary which he most admires and looks up to. “That image is one of the most famous rock images ever and it was his ‘money shot’. After ‘Joshua Tree’, Corbijn was known by everyone in the industry and everyone wanted to work with him.
“I haven’t reached that stage yet, I’m still searching for my ‘money shot’,” he adds.
Nevertheless, having only worked on a professional capacity for the past two years, he is quickly establishing a reputation as ‘one to watch’. Last year, he photographed Hollywood actor Jack Black as part of rock duo Tenacious D at their Marley Park concert in Dublin.
“I was back stage and just happened to be sitting next to him with a friend who turned to me and said, ‘That’s Jack Black!’. I then introduced myself and asked him if I could take his photograph. Jack then called over his band mate Kyle asked him what he thought and that was it, they both agreed to it,” he recounts.
Clearly working with famous rock musicians on a frequent basis means he is no longer in awe of their ‘celebrity’ but he admits that he would love to photograph his musical idols U2 and Bruce Springfield. “Actually I would hope that wouldn’t happen any time soon,” he continues, “It would just be the pinnacle of my career to photograph U2. At that moment I might as well throw my camera in the bin because I could retire a happy man.”
Preferring to work in black and white, Mark says it’s a format which allows for greater expression.
