Amanda Palmer
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
On a dark wintery night in London, before the world was turned upside down by a virus, I met up with Amanda Palmer backstage at The Barbican concert hall. She was performing that night with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and was recording it to make a new single.
Halfway through getting her hair and make up done she jumped up. “You have GOT to see the dress,” she said, reaching into her wardrobe and bringing out the most dazzling garment I’d laid eyes on in a long time. I couldn’t believe it, she was going to freeze outside, but God she would look good doing it.
It was to be quite the evening of performance, Amanda was appearing on stage with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, alongside Neil Gaiman, David Tennant and Simon Butteriss in a night of music and live readings of Neil’s writing. I had spent the previous couple of hours wandering the streets nearby looking for the right spot to create a cover for Amanda’s single and I’d found a couple of brilliant locations. London, in all its wonderful chaos, had the perfect spot once again. Right in the heart of towering ultra modern buildings, you will find a courtyard that feels like you’ve stepped back a century – photographic bliss.
We spent our time shooting outside a pub, to the great amusement of the people inside… until the Police felt we’d had enough fun and asked us to move on. We then dived inside a courtyard and thanks to some friendly security guards were allowed to photograph for 15 minutes in the dark on their cobbles. Then we finished off balancing in the middle of the road whilst red busses whizzed past and Amanda was shouted at by passing fans. So much fun.
It was then time for Amanda to perform, so we headed back to the concert hall, I set up back stage to capture some portraits of everyone, and was privileged to watch these brilliant people gracing the stage.
Listen to Amanda’s beautiful single here (free to all thanks to her Patreon supporters):
https://www.patreon.com/posts/39600499
Orchestral Arrangement: Jherek Bischoff
Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra
Make-up and hair: James Carver-Grenside
Cover Design: Andrew Nelson
Photo Assistant: Oliver Mayhall
Massive thanks to Amanda for such a fun evening. Let’s do it again when you can finally return to the UK.
