Paul Harries is a renowned British photographer best known for his work with rock and metal bands. Over the course of his long career, he has photographed a who's who of rock royalty both on stage and in the studio. 2024 marks his third appearance in the RAM Gallery. This year, Paul has helped curate an exhibition of work by his friend and colleague Ashley Maile, who sadly passed away in 2013.  

Q. How did your participation in this year's gallery come about and what have you been up to since your last appearance?

“I got in touch with Bloodstock last year because I started helping my late friend Ashley Maile – helping his partner – with putting together a website for his work, and I thought it might be cool to have something at the gallery. Vicky [Gregory, Bloodstock director] was really up for that and she invited me to join in as well.

“Recently I've been busy with Rammstein, out on a European tour with them. That's been keeping me really busy. It's such a fantastic show and they're on for, like, two and a half hours. I go to my computer afterwards and I've got two and a half thousand pictures to go through, and every one's a winner, really. When I was shooting film back in the day, you would have to ask 'Is this band any good? Shall I put another roll of film in?' Because it was going to cost me money. I also recently did a new shoot with Matt Goss. He's lovely, actually, and I've worked with him a few times. We just seem to really get on, which is nice.”

Q. Mentioning Matt Goss – of '80s pop act Bros - is a reminder that your work has never been confined to rock and metal genres.

“I've always been open minded about things. I liked alternative rock and goth music when I was young and then of course I started working for Kerrang! and most of the people I was working with were rock and metal bands. I also now do stuff for Music Week – I've shot Lewis Capaldi, Nile Rodgers, Tom Grennan, lots more pop acts as well. For me, I always enjoy the bands that are a bit more theatrical. Growing up it was like David Bowie and Adam Ant and Toyah, as well, that was the first gig I ever went to.” 

Q. The move from film to digital photography was revolutionary. Do you feel music photography has perhaps plateaued or are there still new developments happening?

“There always seems to be new stuff that people are able to do using technology. Especially now with some of the lighting you can use where you can, rather than putting coloured gels over it like we used to do, you can just change the colour by remote control. There are so many more things you can play with now. And also, the digital darkroom is fantastic. You need to keep up with it obviously, otherwise you get left behind, but there's always new toys to play with and new ways to play with them. And Instagram is brilliant for photography. You see so many fresh ideas, not to copy, but to inspire to try something different.”

Q. Have you shot any of Bloodstock's 2024 headliners before?

“Yes! Opeth I've shot a few times, been to Sweden to do stuff with them. Architects, yes. We did a thing for Kerrang! where we made them get in the sea in Brighton in the middle of winter. I thought it was criminal to ask them to do it but anyway, they did it! I've only ever shot Amon Amarth live but they're always good fun. Last time I shot them they had guys on stage fighting, dressed up in Viking gear, and an inflatable dragon type thing. Good fun!”

Q. What work will you be showing in the gallery this year?

“I've gone for a bit of a mix. There's a pic of Architects in there and I've also gone for a classic shot of Amy Lee from back in 2003, a really nice Chester Bennington portrait, a portrait of Jaz Coleman from Killing Joke, a Ghost picture, a portrait of Lzzy Hale, one of Nirvana, and a really nice Rammstein pic that I actually shot for them. I asked permission to put it in the exhibition and they said yes, so I'm really pleased about that. I've got a Slipknot pic from '99, my first ever shoot with them. That was a really good one to do and I built up a relationship with them after that.”

Q. Tell us about your relationship with Ashley Maile and how you got involved with his legacy.

“I'm really good friends with Ashley's partner and she wanted to get his work out there so people can remember him and enjoy his photography. He started working at Kerrang! in 2006 I think, and we became good friends. His partner was the art editor at Kerrang! as well. Sadly Ashley died of cancer in 2013 on his 36^th birthday. It was very cruel as I'm sure anyone who's experienced loved ones with cancer will understand. I just said to her that there are all these pictures sitting there and you need to do something with them. She just hasn't got the time so, I'm not a webmaster by any means, but I managed to put my own website together, so I did something very similar for him. We do print sales and social media and, like I say, I got in touch with Vicky and she said they'd love to have him in the gallery. He was Canadian and had been working for Kerrang! from overseas, but then he moved to London and quickly became one of the main people at the magazine. We shot everyone in that six-seven year period. If I wasn't doing it then Ashley was. We both switched to digital at about that time and we were both learning off each other. Everyone loved him and he was a really nice, easy to get on with chap, and very funny. That shows in some of the photos he took.” 

Q. Tell us about some of Ashley's work that will be in the gallery.

“I helped put together an exhibition for him just after he passed away, and that was the core element of how we got his website together. I then went through his archive to see if there were maybe bits and pieces that we missed, and things that never got used. Pictures that may not have worked in the print magazine to go along with the story, but which are still amazing pictures. I found a really lovely one of Slash and Lemmy on stage ay Download. That was never printed so hopefully that'll be in there. There's a really nice portrait of Angus Young, live shots of Chris Cornell and Dave Grohl, and a crazy portrait of Devin Townsend. There are a couple of Ghost pictures – one is the first incarnation of Papa Emeritus, and the second was from Ashley's last ever shoot just before he died. He wasn't feeling too well so he asked me if I'd go with him to assist, and I'm really pleased I did that. It was nice to see him forget about being ill and just get on and do his job. There's a nice live Metallica shot, an Ozzy portrait and a live shot as well, and a Lamb of God live shot. There's a band shot of Slayer and a couple of portraits of Zakk Wylde, and a nice live shot of Dimebag. There's also a portrait of Simon from Biffy Clyro, topless, wearing a pair of black angel wings, taken at Union Chapel. As a photographer, sometimes you see a picture and think 'I wish I'd taken that.' This one for me is one I feel that about.”

www.paulharries.com

www.ashleymaile.com