A Diamond In the Lens

Revisiting a piece from several years ago as it was archived and not available on the current site.
Velvet Rebel

A few months ago, I was seeing a group I’ve become friends with over the years called The Joy Formidable. When not touring stadiums with Foo Fighters, the band regularly tours smaller venues, melting minds with power and grace. Hanging out before the show, I was blessed to meet photographer Sarah Jeynes who was touring with the band. It turns out, we shared a lot of common ground musically.

Working for the BBC London, Jeynes regularly shoots some of the biggest names in entertainment and we found common ground discussing bands like Joy Formidable and Biffy Clyro. At some point, she let slip that she photographed Duran Duran for their DVD A Diamond In the Mind. Once I picked up my jaw off the floor, we discussed our love of the band, and what it was like working with them. She kindly agreed to an interview and to also dig into the archives and share some of her work with us at Daily Duranie!

When did you first become a Duran Duran fan?
I’ve been a duranie since 1987 – some boys in my school were fans and we formed a fan club and I used to write the words down to all of the songs and at playtime we would sing them together

How did you get involved with the ADITM DVD project?
I was asked by a fellow photographer to join him on this project as he had worked with the band before. It was a two man job over 2 nights we shot the whole show and some backstage pix before the show started.

Had you shot the band prior to this project?
This was the first time for me! I’ve photographed them since on numerous occasions

Did you get a chance to interact with the band?
I did, they were really relaxed with me. I went into a small room backstage and John and Taylor were jamming so I just started taking photos. Sometimes you get a vibe that its not a good time, but they knew I was there for the DVD so all was good. After the show I showed Simon some of my photos, he loved one in particular (a shot of him spitting out a fountain of water)

What are some of the most memorable photo shoots of your career?
I’m really lucky that every week I get to photograph some of the most famous people in the world. I mostly only get a few minutes with them. On other occasions, I photograph bands at their shows, and because I have a good relationship with them I get the best out of them for photos. I have a great shot that I took recently of Mark King from Level 42 where he is sticking up his fingers to me (and the camera) he shouted my name when he did it. Some other pix are of Dave Grohl. I have had the pleasure of photographing the band for the past 8 years and I’ve many unique shots of the band.

Does knowing an artist’s music help when shooting a show?
It helps to know the music. Or my advice is to watch some of their live music videos to see what the band are like on stage. It will give you a good idea of how the band will react. If you know the band, it helps to get you better access such as side of stage or even on the stage. Sometimes they interact with you like Mark King and Dave Grohl have done with me in the past..so yes!

Having seen shows in the UK and US, do you notice a difference in audiences and how they react to an artist?
Yeah the crowd in the UK bounce!!