If you’re from East London and you frequent the area’s warehouse spaces and underground techno parties, you should already know of the dancefloor legend that is ‘Daddy’s Got Sweets‘. What you may not know is that working under this evocative alias, lives Beth, a party-girl from Wales who for years struggled to hold down office jobs due to a never-ending passion for bright lasers, dingy venues, and everything in between. Now she’s left that behind and has found her calling documenting some of this city’s most exciting underground parties and venues: fabric, Toi.Toi, Krankbrothers, Kubicle, Electric Minds, Rhythmatic, Lo*kee, and many more! Made In Shoreditch grabbed a quick moment with Beth, ahead of the London Nightlife Photography Exhibition which she is helping curate at The MEOKO Project this Friday 28th June., to find out more about her relationship with the camera and the dancefloor, and how she has reflected this in a rare display of club and nightlife photography at Village Underground this weekend.
To find out more about The MEOKO Project and the one-day photography exhibition head on over to the Facebook event.
Photo credit: Lee Arucci
Hi Beth! Thanks for chatting with Made In Shoreditch. Firstly, tell us how you came to be one of London’s most prolific underground club photographers?
Prolific! [Laughs] I wouldn’t go that far, but thanks! I’m just a party girl that likes taking pictures. My love of music, dancing and people has always come before my love or knowledge of photography.
When I got my first SLR, I literally did not have a clue…I didn’t even know I could change the lens on my camera! Composition, lighting, ISO…anything technical went straight over my head. But with a few pointers from friends about aperture and shutter speed, and a lot of parties (and so practice!) I eventually got to grips with manual shooting and the more parties I went to, the better I got, and then the more people started to recognise me and my work. So I guess a shorter answer would have been: “going to a shit load of awesome parties!” [laughs]
And what is your involvement with The MEOKO Project on June 28th?
MEOKO asked me to curate a photography exhibition, as a part of The MEOKO Project, detailing the true side of London clubbing. The point is to celebrate ALL the elements of club culture rather than just the music! I’ve tried to avoid a whole exhibition of crowds with their arms up or DJs looking super cool as they twiddle knobs on a mixer; that’s not what defines London’s clubbing scene. London is so amazing, so vibrant, and all because of the wide variety of people that join these parties. This is what I’ve tried to convey in the exhibition: an exhibition without inhibitions, I guess! The photographers displaying their work are true party people and I think that’s conveyed in the pictures they take.
It’s rare to see club photography to be displayed at an exhibition, why is that do you think?
I think photography is an art form but there aren’t many people that combine club photography with art. The majority of “club photography” is just a bunch of pictures of idiots with peace signs and pouts, who would want to go and see an exhibition like that? And who would be stupid enough to put an exhibition on like that in the first place? This one is very different though…
What makes club/nightlife photography special and why are you drawn to it?
I love being able to capture someone at his or her peak of happiness, so blissfully unaware of me. When the track drops, when they see an old friend, when they kiss their partner – it’s a beauty that you can’t replicate. I also like to party! Perfect combo, really.
Is there a particular talent that makes a club photographer good?
Club photography isn’t a thought – it’s a feeling. I keep seeing fashion photographers, fine art photographers, or people with degrees who think that just because they know a thing or two about taking pictures and technical stuff that they’re going to be able to take good pictures in clubs. But it just doesn’t work like that. You need to be able to get into the zone and get to a point where your snapping is autopilot, not calculated. Of course, sexy artistic, DJ shots and pictures of the venue do require a bit more thought but, to really capture the essence of the dancefloor, you need to be a lot more in tune with the people around you.
Is there a running thread through all the photographers being displayed at the exhibition, or are they all pretty diverse?
I guess there are two running themes: realism and art, and the combination of the two.
There’s lots of different elements going into The MEOKO Project – why so many different things in one space, and what are you most excited about?
Each element is a fundamental part of the weekend. I’m really looking forward to rummaging through Puckoo Couture and Fuudhoods’ stalls in the fashion section – both are amazingly kooky, distinctive fashion lines, and as colourful as the scene that we’re part of. Overall I couldn’t say what I’m most excited about though, it’s ALL going to be totally awesome and a lot of fun!
Catch Daddy’s Got Sweets and other nightlife photographers at THE MEOKO PROJECT held at Village Underground this Friday 28th June. The event will also be hosting the UK premiere of electronic music documentary ‘Beatz’.
