Dean Chalkley
Encyclopedia
Early life
Dean Chakley's first years were spent on a farm in EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
where his parents were Labourers. At the age of seven the family moved to Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
where he eventually attended Fairfax High School for boys, in Westcliff-on-Sea
Westcliff-on-Sea
Westcliff-on-Sea is a suburb of Southend-on-Sea, a seaside resort in the East of England and unitary authority in Essex. It is situated on the northern bank of the Thames Estuary and about 34 miles east of London.-Geography:...
.
It was the 1980’s, the time of the mod revival
Mod Revival
The mod revival was a music genre and subculture that started in England in 1978 and later spread to other countries . The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence has lasted for decades...
. He describes himself as having been “...a hardened mod, totally into scooters, dressing flamboyantly, in cravats and so on.”
Towards the late 1980’s Acid House
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
coincided with his discovery of photography, although initially after leaving school his interest had been in Fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
, especially the type influenced by music. He trained for and became a bespoke trouser maker for a couple of years but on realising the debt involved in setting up shop, he decided to become a Civil Servant and remained working as one for seven years.
During this time, the Civil Service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
sent him on an A-Level course in Photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, since it was applicable to his work there. This in turn led to a Photography degree at Blackpool and The Fylde College
Blackpool and The Fylde College
Blackpool and The Fylde College is a university college linked to the University of Lancaster.It has 49 buildings spread over the towns of Blackpool, St Annes, Bispham and three locations in Fleetwood. The college brands itself an "associate college of Lancaster University".The College offers...
, during which he started shooting for Dazed & Confused
Dazed & Confused (magazine)
Dazed & Confused is a British style magazine, that was set up in 1992 and published monthly. Its founding editors were Jefferson Hack and Rankin...
magazine.
On completing his degree course he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and assisted two notable photographers, Malcolm Venville
Malcolm Venville
Malcolm Frank Venville is a British photographer and film director.Venville was the child of deaf parents. He was, in the words of his uncle, "caught in some no-man's land between the deaf world and the hearing world." Venville atteneded Solihull College and Polytechnic of Central London ,...
and afterwards Seamus Ryan, whom he assisted fulltime for a period of about 9 months.
Professional career
Dean’s big break came whilst he was still assisting, in the form of an advertisingAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
campaign for Twix
Twix
Twix is a chocolate bar made by Mars, Inc., consisting of a biscuit finger, topped with caramel and coated in milk chocolate. Being somewhat smaller in width than other confectionery bars, Twix bars are typically packaged in pairs...
. Under the wing of his first agent, Yogi, who knew the advertising market well, he went on to shoot down the advertising route for some time, for clients such as Ben Sherman
Ben Sherman
Ben Sherman is a British based clothing company, designing shirts, suits, shoes, accessories and other items that are, in common with many British brands, now made overseas, largely in the Far East. Their designs sometimes feature the Royal Air Force roundel which is often called the mod target...
, Kodak and Lloyds. During this time the only editorial work Dean undertook was for Mixmag
Mixmag
Mixmag is a British dance music and clubbing magazine. It styles itself as "the world's biggest selling dance music magazine", with an Audit Bureau of Circulations audited circulation of approximately 21,250...
, shooting the covers and inside features, travelling to Iceland with dance duo Propellerheads
Propellerheads
Propellerheads were a British big beat musical ensemble, formed in 1995 and made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term propellerhead is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California use this in a conversation, they thought it the perfect name...
for example, and spending lengths of time covering club-season Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
.
Reaping the financial rewards of shooting within the advertising genre allowed him to finance side projects such as his short film Strip which was accepted into and screened at several short film festivals around the world, and won the Kinofilm 2000 Best Experimental Short Film award at the International Short Film Festival in Manchester.
After growing less satisfied with the advertising work, he and his agent Yogi decided to part ways. Dean says of the departure, “…the editorial side that I liked, and the fuel that I needed, was being overwhelmed by jobs that were a little too broad.”
After spending a year without an agent, Dean met photographer Paul Rider who introduced him to his wife Adele Rider, agent and now director of the photographer’s agency Shoot. Today, Adele and her team remain Dean’s choice of agent, undertaking amongst other things, production work and fee negotiation.
Music
Dean started shooting for the New Musical Express magazine in 2001, with The VerveThe Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
’s Richard Ashcroft
Richard Ashcroft
Richard Paul Ashcroft is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional guitarist of alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their split in 1999, and continues as a lead vocalist working with guitars and keyboards...
his first subject. Having been introduced to the magazine by current NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
Photography Director Marian Paterson, he continues to shoot covers and features for the magazine today. This has proved a successful working partnership with Dean winning the Portrait Photographer of the Year at The Picture Editors' Awards
Picture Editors' Awards
The Picture Editors' Awards were established to recognise and reward the best of photographic journalism throughout the UK and Ireland, and to promote the interests of press photography. The Awards were founded by a group of newspaper picture editors in 1993 as a non-profit organisation, and each...
2006 after having submitted his portrait of Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
singer songwriter Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
, a shoot commissioned by the NME. He has shot amongst many others, Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
, Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
, The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
, Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
, Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
, Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, Hollywood actress and singer Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
, and most recently American rapper and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
, and Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
, British entrepreneur, music executive
Music executive
A music executive or record executive is person within a record label who works in senior management, making executive decisions over the label's artists...
, television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
.
As well as shooting within the music genre for magazines such the NME and Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
, Dean also undertakes commissions from record companies, shooting artist’s and band’s album’s and single’s artwork along with their press photography. He has, to name but a few, shot for XL Recordings
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...
, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
and Acid Jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
providing pictures for the following:
Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
"s Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
winning album Boy in da Corner
Boy in Da Corner
Boy in da Corner is the debut album of British grime MC Dizzee Rascal, released on 21 July 2003 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom and Matador Records in the United States...
(2003)
Lily Alan’s single LDN
LDN
LDN is a mobile phone abbreviation for London. It can also refer to:* LDN, a London based professional wrestling promotion.* London Daily News, the short-lived London newspaper owned by British newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell...
(2006)
The Horrors
The Horrors
The Horrors are an English band from Southend on Sea, formed in 2005. Their debut Strange House, was released in 2007 and reached number thirty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and peaked at number 25 in the UK...
’ single artwork for Gloves (2007)
New Young Pony Club
New Young Pony Club
New Young Pony Club are an English electronic band from London, consisting of members from London, Hereford, Cambridge and Bromley. Their influences are prominently from post-punk and New Wave....
's Fantastic Playroom
Fantastic Playroom
Fantastic Playroom is the debut album by English electronic band New Young Pony Club. It was released in the United Kingdom on 9 July 2007 by Island Records. The album reached number fifty-four in the UK and number seventy-nine in Australia...
(2007)
Tinchy Stryder
Tinchy Stryder
Kwasi Danquah III , better known by his pseudonyms Tinchy Stryder and Star In The Hood, is a Ghanaian British recording artist, music executive, A&R executive, and businessman...
’s Third Strike
Third Strike
Third strike may refer to:* Three strikes law* A strikeout in baseball* Third Strike , a 2010 album by Tinchy Stryder* Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike* 3rd Strike, a rap/rock group...
(2010)
Paul Weller
Paul Weller
Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...
’s album Find the Tourch Burn the Plans
Advertising
Dean has also returned to shooting “fun and edgy” advertising work such as the Keep Britain TidyKeep Britain Tidy
Keep Britain Tidy is a British campaign run by the Keep Britain Tidy environmental charity, which is part funded by the UK government. The majority of their campaigning is around the issue of litter. They have been using "Keep Britain Tidy" as their slogan for almost fifty years...
campaign.
Editorial
He has also been shooting some fashion work for client’s such as Sport and Street magazine and Levi's and likes to shoot for The ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
magazine for which he has photographed actors such as Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed Parry in Enduring Love and as a member of the Welsh rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly...
, Dominic West
Dominic West
Dominic Gerard Fe West is an English actor best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO drama series The Wire.-Film and TV:...
, Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
, Bond girl
Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character or actress portraying a love interest, of James Bond in a film, novel, or video game. They occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as "Pussy Galore", "Plenty O'Toole", "Xenia Onatopp", or "Holly Goodhead"...
Eva Green
Eva Green
Eva Gaëlle Green is a French actress and model.Green performed in theatre before making her film debut in The Dreamers , which generated controversy over her numerous nude scenes. She achieved greater fame for her parts in Kingdom of Heaven , and in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, for...
, and most recently, former model and author Sophie Dahl
Sophie Dahl
Sophie Dahl , born Sophie Holloway, is an English author and former model. She was born in London, the daughter of actor Julian Holloway and writer Tessa Dahl. Her maternal grandparents were author Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal. Her paternal grandparents were actor Stanley Holloway and...
and in 2010 Clemence Posey.
DJing
To this day the photographer also continues to DJ with vinyl at several club nights, most frequently at Shake! at the boogaloo which takes place at the infamous Boogaloo bar in HighgateHighgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
, London. A host of well known musicians including Shane Macgowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
, original singer and songwriter of The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, and others can often be found here too.
Exhibitions
Having shot many of today’s leading popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
musicians and bands led to Dean’s exhibition Now Stand Tall! Icons of the new sonic generation which opened in February 2006 at The Spitz
The Spitz
The Spitz are an independent record label and music promoter. They started out in 1996 running a club in the East End of London, at 109 Commercial Street on the edge of the Old Spitalfields market...
gallery in London’s Spitalfields
Spitalfields
Spitalfields is a former parish in the borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane. The area straddles Commercial Street and is home to many markets, including the historic Old Spitalfields Market, founded in the 17th century, Sunday...
. In collaboration with this, he also arranged three accompanying gigs at the venue. On the 27th July 2006 the exhibition went on to open at Birmingham’s Snap Galleries and remained there for several months. The exhibition is still available online and the gallery’s director Guy White continues to sell limited edition prints.
Southend’s Underground opened in August 2006 at The Spitz gallery. “It was a snapshot of the thriving music scene that's grown up around the now defunct Junk Club and bands like The Horrors
The Horrors
The Horrors are an English band from Southend on Sea, formed in 2005. Their debut Strange House, was released in 2007 and reached number thirty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and peaked at number 25 in the UK...
and These New Puritans
These New Puritans
These New Puritans are a British Art Rock band from the Southend-on-Sea area. The group consists of Jack Barnett , his twin brother George Barnett , Thomas Hein , and Sophie Sleigh-Johnson...
.” Part of the show went on to exhibit in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy at the Pitti Imagine Uomo festival in June 2007, and in October 2007 it was part of the Family Viewing exhibition, Teenage Kicks Episode in Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
, London, and culminated in a final show entitled The End at Homestead in Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...
, London.
Dean’s short film Serge and accompanying exhibition of “emotive and graceful studies” of Physical Culturists premiered at The Rex cinema and bar, in June 2005.
In 2008 Dean was asked to contribute some of his live images of The Horrors
The Horrors
The Horrors are an English band from Southend on Sea, formed in 2005. Their debut Strange House, was released in 2007 and reached number thirty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and peaked at number 25 in the UK...
and Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
to the 100 Club
100 Club
The 100 Club is a music venue in London situated at 100 Oxford Street, W1, originally called The Feldman Swing Club.The 100 Club attained legendary status in modern British music, having played host to live music since 24 October 1942....
’s permanent exhibition, curated by Emily Beaver.
Later in the same year and again in early 2009, Dean travelled as far a field as New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and finally Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
to be brought together with the young stars of the contemporary music scene to advertise the re-launch of the Ray-Ban Clubmaster sunglasses. Dean documented the artists as they recorded in the studio and performed at the Ray-Ban events and exhibitions which were the results of the photographic project.
In October 2009 Dean exhibited at Camden's Roundhouse
Roundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...
to celebrate the opening of the 2009 Electric Proms. The photographs displayed consisted of some of radio's finest faces, commissioned by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Subjects included dj's Lauren Laverne
Lauren Laverne
Lauren Cecilia Fisher , known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, television presenter, author and singer...
, Cerys Matthews
Cerys Matthews
Cerys Elizabeth Matthews is a Welsh singer and songwriter. She is known as the lead singer of the Welsh rock band Catatonia, her more recent bilingual solo career, and for a 1998 Christmas duet with Tom Jones.-Biography:...
, Craig Charles
Craig Charles
Craig Joseph Charles is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf...
, Tom Robinson
Tom Robinson
Tom Robinson is an English singer-songwriter, bassist and radio presenter, better known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson Band...
amongst others.
On the 4th March 2010, Dean opened a new show at The Book Club in Shoreditch, London. The exhibition title 'The New Faces' was thought of by none other than 'Modfather' Paul Weller
Paul Weller
Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...
who Dean had recently shot. The exhibition- a collection of studio photographs shot towards the end of last year, shows a group of sharply dressed young Mods, their attitude and their dance moves. The show ran until April 29th 2010.
Young Souls
This project, sparked by a commission from 125 Magazine125 Magazine
125 is a London based, internationally available showcase for new work and ideas by photographers, illustrators and artists around the world. Originally marketed as a 'gallery-space-in-print' and something of a vanity project, 125 has gradually become a highly collectible example of what the...
, had to be completed in a extremely short time frame, Having met up with the 125 Magazine
125 Magazine
125 is a London based, internationally available showcase for new work and ideas by photographers, illustrators and artists around the world. Originally marketed as a 'gallery-space-in-print' and something of a vanity project, 125 has gradually become a highly collectible example of what the...
Art Director Rob Crane three days before Christmas, inviting Chalkley to submit inline with the next issue’s theme of “Religion” with the deadline being the end of February. The work took the form of a photographic series and short film which was written , directed and produced by Dean himself.
The cast of the film were gathered through “putting the word out” on Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
community websites and forums. In January 2011, a message was posted on Dean Chalkley’s official Blog requesting“Good youthful Northern Soul Dancers to feature in a short film and photographic project". and that the project would then be presented through 125 Magazine
125 Magazine
125 is a London based, internationally available showcase for new work and ideas by photographers, illustrators and artists around the world. Originally marketed as a 'gallery-space-in-print' and something of a vanity project, 125 has gradually become a highly collectible example of what the...
. A later post, by Amanda Ashed of Looks London and the Ranch Casting Company mentioned that the project would be a short film that wasn’t set out to be a "definative story of Northern Soul" but that it “does aim to celebrate it.” And that the project had no outside funding. This point has been reiterated since by Chalkley himself, who in an interview with the British Journal of Photography, referred to the project as being a “Labour of Love”
In this later post by Ashed a call was put out asking for dancers of all ages to get in contact for the filming side of the project that would take place on 30th January.
On the 5th April 2011 a 25 second teaser of the short film Young souls was released on Dean Chalkley’s official Vimeo. Later in April of the same year the photographic side to the project was published In 125 Magazine. This was a “study focusing on the current Burgeoning generation of young people getting into the scene.”
Being a DJ and running his own club nights around London where he plays rare soul music (Black Cat and Shake! at the Boogaloo); Dean witnessed the interest of a younger generation who were interested in northern soul and not just for the short term; 'These are real people who spend all their money on this because they love it, not because it's the flavour of the month' In an interview with The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in July Dean said about the film:
“I didn’t want to just recreate the past, but I did aim to produce timeless works that illustrate the culture as never before. It is great to show how people dance to Northern Soul music, but more importantly how it is a passionate experience, and how its devotees young and old are immersed in it.”
The film was made available to view online from 125 Magazine’s website in July 2011 following the short film’s premier at Bethnal Green’s Working men’s club in London, which was attended by many of the participants in the film who took to the floor after the first screening was greeted with rapturous applause Following from the films screening and online launch, as well as the publication of 16 images in 125 Magazine Young Souls was exhibited at PYMCA’s Youth Club Gallery. The Exhibition consisted of the original 16 images with some new editions, which added up to 22 in total. These went on display alongside the film Young Souls. On the night of the private view Kent Record’s Ady Croasdell, Jo Wallace, who are credited as Music Consultant’s on the film DJed alongside Donna Driscoll and Chalkley himself. The Exhibition at Youth Club Gallery ran from 21st July 2011 until 16th August 2011.
Young Souls Reviews
“The film is very, very, very authentic.” “It ‘s absolutely beautifully filmed, It’s the kind of thing that I’ll come back to and watch again… …so that I can get all of the nuances of it. – Ian Dewhurst.“It is really a homage.” – Eddie Piller
Eddie Piller
Eddie Piller is an English DJ and record label entrepreneur.Starting his career in the 1980s as a part of the English mod revival, Piller launched the underground fanzine Extraordinary Sensations and operated as a DJ and concert promoter. In 1985, he started the Countdown Records label, through...
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“It was beautifully shot. Dean is a genius photographer.” – Jonny Owens
"[The] film... ...is seriously good in terms of the cinematography, sound, aesthetics etc., and (perfectly captured in the still photos) the dancing is so damn cool it hurts."- Bryony Quin, It's Nice That
Strip
Written and produced by Dean Chalkley, music & sound by Geir Jenssen, edited by Suki, 2000Serge
written and directed by Dean Chalkley, music by Johann Johannsson, edited by Spencer Doane, 2005Eddyfink, In For Me
Video promo, written and directed by Dean Chalkley and Spencer Doane, edited by Spencer Doane, produced by Will Haynes, 2007No Bra, She was a Butcher
Video promo, a collaboration between Dean Chalkley and Ciaran O’Shea, 2008External links
- http://www.deanchalkley.com/
- http://www.shootgroup.com/
- http://www.nme.com/home
- http://www.snapgalleries.com/
- Dean Chalkley about Northern Soul (Interview)