Legend has it that as a child, Dan Reid would refuse to go anywhere without his Fisher Price camera – it was perhaps this sheer determination and inbuilt love of photography present even at a young age (combined of course with some slightly more hi-tech equipment) that enabled him to turn a lifetime’s passion into a full time career.
As an established and successful DJ and Club promoter, Dan was not satisfied, but his life was to change when fate, or a chance meeting, brought Dan’s natural talent to the attention of Sony music photographer, Chris Lopez.
Dan started assisting on shoots with bands like Reef and The Manic Street Preachers or Macy Gray, and was soon working for DJ mag. Not long after that he got his first cover with international act Chemical Brothers.
Many covers down the line; Dan now travels the world and shoots with stars ranging from Mylo to Kasabien and Mark Ronson. He’s not turned his back on the dance world though – he still shoots with some of the biggest names in the industry – John Digweed, Carl Cox, Paul Van Dyk and David Morales to name but a few.
He frequently gets commissioned for press photographs with bands, DJ’s and producers, and has shot album covers for John Digweed and most recently, James Zabiela and Nic Fanciulli’s One + One collaboration.
By the time Dan has greeted you with an easy “hello mateâ€, you are in the company of a friend. He’s effortlessly comfortable with people wherever they come from and whatever they do, and somehow he manages to make the feeling mutual. This ability to put people at ease creates the feeling of accessibility, comfort and complete honesty that’s captured in all his photography – one of his favourite memories as a photographer is running from a farmer with Carl Cox in a wheat field… With Dan the barriers are instantly down; Dan Reid images are images with no pretence, no ambiguity but all personality.