Northern Soul - A Photographic Journey. Magazine Interview with Brian Cannon

Hello, I'm from Union magazine and we recently did a print interview with Brian Cannon about his project 'Northern Soul-A Photographic Journey'. He's spent the last few years on the motorway photographing Northern Soul events all over the country. 

Before we interviewed Brian, who's probably best known for his design agency Microdot Creative and his work with Oasis and The Verve,  we knew very little about the scene and it was an eye opener to find out how vibrant it is. 

Anyways, Brian clued us in and it's a great interview (though we would say that) and some amazing images from nights all over the country. 

Here's a couple of excerpts from the interview. Hope you enjoy;

You’ve shot some of the biggest bands in the world. How was this project different?

It’s dead easy to get plaudits for your photography if you’re photographing famous people. You can get away with some pretty shit stuff if you’ve got an impressive roster. But when you’re photographing faceless nameless silhouettes in unknown clubs, making people go ‘wow, what a shot’ is quite difficult. 

Many of the shots have few dancers on the floor. Is that deliberate?

There’s a number of reasons for this, one I like dancing and love the music and two a crowded dance floor doesn’t make for a dynamic shot - you get a sea of bodies. My shots are all about shifts and lighting. If you got 50 people packed into a room that holds 50 people, all you’re going to get is a shot of 50 people’s bodies and there’s no dynamic to it. So I tend to shoot early on, put down the camera and have a laugh.

Did you have any trouble shooting?

…. I’d see the same people every week so I began to develop a relationship of trust. Once they knew I wasn’t from a tabloid and I wasn’t there to stitch them up with a lurid story about the drug scene and that this was a genuine attempt to document what was going on it got easier. 

you can get Union here http://www.unionmag.co.uk