Journal / Photo story / London
R&B Slow Jams at Magazine London
I was booked to film the night. The photographs were the brief I gave myself.
- Project
- R&B Slow Jams
- Category
- Music
- Location
- Magazine London
- My role
- Camera Operator & Photographer
- Date
- 23 August 2026
01 / The brief
I picked up my stills camera too.
Dan Hills DJ brought me onto R&B Slow Jams as a videographer and positioned me on stage for the performances. I also wanted to get better at photography and do more of it, so I started making stills alongside the commissioned film work.
I wanted to capture the team in its element. Dan had been working on the event for four years. I'd joined about six months in, and this was their biggest hometown show. I wanted the photographs to show what that felt like.
02 / The room
A good team lets the work speak.
The early part of the day felt fun and creative. Everybody was good at what they did, knew their role and got on with it.
The atmosphere shifted when Chuckie opened. From that point the pace was set for two hours, right through to Chuckie and Tazer closing together. The quiet preparation was over, and I was moving between the stage and the crowd.
R&B Slow Jams is Black excellence. I wanted the photographs to feel like saying goodbye to summer, with good vibes and melanin in the air.
03 / The craft
Working with two cameras.
Years of working at live events have taught me when to move between backstage, the running space, the crowd and the stage. At points I had a monopod in one hand and my stills camera in the other, recording the same moment from two angles and in two different forms.
Broadwick Live's lighting gave me a strong base. My style leans towards direct flash: I expose for the environment and use the flash to light the subject. That kept the people clear in the shot while still showing the space around them.
The stage was closed, and only Don and I were meant to have access for three songs. Somehow we were allowed to stay. I didn't take that for granted. The hardest part came during Odeal's set: I needed to keep him sharp for a crucial multicamera video angle while making photographs at the same time. I managed both.
04 / The first edit
Home at 5am. Lightroom first.
I started reviewing the selections while we waited for Don to offload seven terabytes of footage in the back of the car. By the time I got home it was five in the morning. The first thing I opened was Lightroom. I was blown away by what we had captured.
05 / The response
What happened when I shared the photographs.
The photographs made their way through the team.
I first made the photographs for my own Instagram and to see how my photography was developing. After I sent them to Dan, the team began sharing them. My post reached well beyond the people already following me, and Tazer chose to share the work himself with credit.
- 7,547
- views
- 69.3%
- people who didn't follow me
- 352
- likes
- 30+
- comments
- 4
- reposts
- 5
- saves
- 2,195
- likes on Tazer's post
- 104
- comments
- 18
- reposts
- 37
- shares
“I don't think Super could have done a better job capturing these moments that went down yesterday.”Tazer
Seeing people share the photographs made me want to do more of this. I'd like to work with marketing teams on cultural events, brand activations and product launches. I'm especially interested in work made with and for ethnic communities, showing the culture from inside it.