MARK SAVAGE PHOTOGRAPHY

I started by just walking through fashion designers' doors and asking if I could photograph their catwalk show. Most of them said yes, and I ended up working in New York, Paris and London taking photographs, scouting for a model agency in London and generally hanging out with people a lot better looking than me. I've photographed front of house and backstage for Karl Lagerfeld, Helmut Lang, Prada, Commes de Garcons, Cerruti, Rifat Ozbek, Ben de Lisi, John Rocha, Nicole Farhi, Givenchy, Moschino and many, many others. However, there are only so many photos you can take of half-naked fashion models before it becomes boring. You know how it is... I went on to gain a first class honours degree in Contemporary Photographic Practice at Northumbria University in Newcastle and then did my Masters. The whole experience was inspirational, and I remain inspired to this day. And now? I lecture on that degree course and do my best to pass on that enthusiasm to my students. I love teaching, and doing that has given me a great deal of satisfaction. There's nothing quite like helping someone get to where they want to be. My students are all talented and I like to push them to be the best they can be. As well as doing my own work, I'm lucky enough to have been successful in setting up my own photography business. I do advertising, product, editorial, music, PR and film stills, as well as some fashion and I've won the Fujifilm National Award. I'm a workaholic, but if you love your job you'll never work a day in your life.I also rock climb and I've done a lot of first ascents. I've climbed E8, which for those that don't know, means it's pretty serious and quite hard. Not something to fall off! I have had a 'Touching the Void' moment though, when I broke my ankle and had to crawl for a couple of hours to get back to the car! Ouch..! I've climbed all around the world which means I've been lucky enough to see some breathtaking places, meet a lot of interesting people and I'm good at taking the tops off bottles. I'm in the process of making a film about rock climbing and, of course, I have to say it's going to be amazing! When I can find the time I go diving. I love to swim inside shoals of fish and lie on the seabed watching my bubbles rise into the sunlight. I used to be the singer in NORTH EAST METAL LEGENDS: 'XLR8R'. This was probably the most fun I've ever had. We put an album out, toured the UK and Europe, and I've been in all the music mags like 'Kerrang' and appeared on 'MTV'. All the usual rock 'n' roll stuff. Yes, I had longer hair at the time. Much longer. I still get beautiful women coming up to me and saying, "I used to be in love with you when I was 15" !!