Shooting The Enemy
his is a bit of a blast from the past, but I was reminded of my impromptu shoot with the band The Enemy upon hearing of some geezer putting Public Enemy in the back of his Ford Focus when they got stranded in some godforsaken part of Sheffield after browsing a record store.
Whilst doing a stint shooting gear for Barbour a few years ago, I got a call asking if I would pop round to the factory to do some PR shots. Always looking for some distraction from the repetitive task of photographing shirts, I gladly and dutifully obliged. I found an entourage of managers, a burly Irish security dude, and The Enemy. They’d been playing in town the night before, and had been invited to the factory to see the production, and to shop for gear (to be seen in public with obviously).
I was struck with how down to earth the lads were – including the security guy. Inbetween stops, we’d talk about Coventry, and the music scene there. They were pals with Neville out of The Specials, and it was all good craic. We all traipsed round the factory floor – seeing how wax jackets were put together, and did the obligatory group shots with the staff (who were totally bemused – being largely oblivious to who these dudes were). From a technical viewpoint, the factory is hellish to shoot in, as it has horrible fluorescent tube lighting, and puke green walls. A colour balance nightmare.
At the end of the tour, they were invited to choose some gear from the flagship Factory Store over the road, and more photo ops were exploited. Liam (on the left in the shop photo) is a slight wee lad, and couldn’t find any mens size that fitted, so the shop put in an order for some teen size gear.
After the shopping spree, the band were obviously flagging a bit – with the after-gig partying, and the pressures of gigging i suppose. They asked me if there was anywhere to eat nearby. Now, don’t get me wrong – Bede Industrial Estate is listed in many of the world’s gastronomic review magazines as being up there with parts of Paris in terms of eateries, but on this occasion I couldn’t think of any offhand, and directed them to the Greggs round the corner. They invited me along, so we all jumped in the big limo-people carrier, and queued up with loads of hairy-arsed builders for sausage rolls and chicken bakes. As I said – proper down to earth lads. Strange sight though.
Off they headed down the A19 to some other gig that night. I (slightly starstruck) walked back to the task of shooting shirts until darkness fell. The band have matured, and remained together , and have just released their fourth album. Happy days.
