Conor McDonnell: 'One gig changed the trajectory of my life'

Photographer Conor McDonnell has captured many memorable moments in music, nature and pop culture.

Countless tours with Calvin Harris. Documenting artwork for Sir David Attenborough. The wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

But it all started in 2008 when, as a 16-year-old, he turned up to a gig at the Manchester Academy with a basic camera in his hand.

McDonnell grew up in Lydiate in Sefton, Merseyside, and initially wanted to become a professional swimmer, but when an injury thwarted his plans, he took a dive into the photography world instead.

Getting no success with getting access to live shows, he contacted his favourite band, The Subways.

The group gave him a press pass for their gig in Manchester and he got started.

"Looking back, some of those photographs were really bad," he said.

"They were so blurry."

However, the experience had him hooked and he said the show "changed the trajectory of my life into this crazy world".

"I genuinely do not know what I would be doing with my life if it was not for the band giving me that pass," he added.

As his experience grew, he gradually began getting paid and photographing festivals and bands at bigger venues, capturing the likes of Ellie Goulding, Niall Horan, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Mac Miller along the way.

In 2013, he took another chance on a direct approach and emailed Calvin Harris, asking if he could take pictures of the DJ's headline show at Creamfields festival.

"Amazingly, he said yes... and the photographs ended up in his album," the London-based photographer said.

He has accompanied Harris on every tour since, because, as the DJ said, McDonnell had "an interesting way of capturing the moment without it looking contrived or manipulated".

"And most importantly, [he] got my good side," Harris joked.

Fourteen years on from that shaky start, McDonnell now commands a huge fee for a one-day photo shoot and is booked up weeks in advance, but said he can still fit in the odd last-minute request, if it is from someone special.

"One of the craziest moments of my career was photographing the wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West," he said.

"I was asked last minute by a mutual friend... and I told him I had never done a wedding nor did I own a suit.

"He told me he trusted me to do the job and to get a suit."

He said it turned out to be "an amazing day", adding: "Kim and Kanye and the whole family were very welcoming.

"One of the photos I took that day ended up being the most liked photo on Instagram at that time."

Away from music, McDonnell has turned his focus to wildlife photography and become an ambassador for the WWF conservation charity.

This led to him have the "absolute honour and privilege" of working with Sir David Attenborough on the Netflix documentary series Our Planet.

The broadcaster and McDonnell have since completed further trips for conservation work, which the photographer said has been "incredible".

And though photographing musk oxen in the wilds of Alaska may seem a long way from the front of a sweaty gig, he says his experience with live music has given him the skills needed to capture wildlife.

"With a band on stage, I am totally at their mercy with lighting and movement," he said.

"It is exactly the same with nature photography."

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