Picture perfect: life behind the lens with photographer Louis Nesbitt
He’s the zeitgeist-capturing young photographer who quit a nine-to-five to become clubland’s most in-demand snapper.
He might not be a household name just yet, but Louis Nesbitt’s star is firmly in the ascendant. Plucked from the dancefloor in 2019 to shoot an up-and-coming Michael Bibi, Nesbitt’s swift ascent up clubland’s ranks is the storyline that young clubbers dream of. Following a summer season in Ibiza at Bibi's Solid Grooves Motel and fresh from shooting multi-award-winning rapper Skepta, Nesbitt checked in with L’OFFICIEL IBIZA to muse over a whirlwind year behind the lens.
It seems you’ve exploded on the scene and made a huge impact very quickly. Can you tell me a little bit about your background and how you got into photography?
I'm from Essex originally. I got into photography in my last few weeks at university - four or five years ago now – by accident. My roommate was the photographer for our social events and one night he got a bit too carried away. He needed someone to take over and I stepped in. I had no idea what I was doing but I really enjoyed the experience and I felt like brought me out of my shell. I realised right away that this was something I wanted to follow up, so I saved up for a year after graduating and bought my first camera. At this point I was taking photos of anything and everything: I even took photos of my friend for his Tinder profile. And then I stumbled into Fashion Week and started shooting street style. I was out one night and a friend said to me, why don't you take photos at clubs? You love house music and we’re always out. It made a lot of sense, so I started taking my camera to parties and networking as much as I could.
You’re best known for your work with Michael Bibi, particularly at this year’s Solid Grooves Motel parties in Ibiza. How did that relationship develop?
It was all a bit random really. Some friends and I went to a Solid Grooves party at Studio 338 in London. Michael at that time had just started to blow up and we’d all heard about this guy and wanted to go and see what he was all about. I just happened to be stood to the side of the outside stage before Michael came on. It was my birthday and I was dressed up, wrapped in birthday banners and I looked like an absolute idiot. Michael came up behind me going, oi, oi, birthday boy. We got a photo together and had a bit of a laugh. Two weeks later he was playing a small festival called Hifields in Cambridge. We chatted again and I took a great photo of him that I posted on my Instagram Stories. The next day I’m sitting there at work in my nine to five and I just get a message off him like, I love that photo! He posted it and tagged me in it and from there the ball just started rolling. That image and Michael’s approval of it opened a lot of doors.
You were working as a corporate tax consultant in your previous life. How did that a career end and your new one begin?
It was around New Year's Eve, so almost a year ago now. Someone from Michael’s team floated the idea - what do you think about doing the season in Ibiza next year? It had been in the back of my mind but it was still a real shock to have that vocalised. As summer approached it became clear they definitely wanted me out there. I was thinking, hang on a minute, how am I gonna do every Thursday in Ibiza when I've got a nine-to-five? That’s not gonna work. I made a decision then and there to leave my job and go full time as a photographer. I always knew I’d have to give it a go, I just didn't know how or when!. As soon as I quit my job, I got a message from Michael saying, when are you coming on tour? Two days after I left my job I was flying off on a private plane. I kept that one quiet but it did make me smile.
Your images have a very raw, unposed quality to them and an intimacy that recalls the iconic club photographs of Dave Swindells from the ‘80s and ‘90s. How has your style developed in this way?
I think the point to make about my work is that it’s always been very unstaged. I literally came up from being a clubber on the dancefloor to being the guy with the camera. It’s been very organic. My aim has always been to give back to the artists – to use my photography as a way to repay them for the music. I think that's a really important point: there was never an end goal or a commercial interest. I’ve never studied photography: I'm self-taught in everything I do. Whatever success I have has come to me through passion and through being humble. I was just left to my own devices, to figure out my way in this game, and through that I’m grateful to have developed relationships with some really great people. My images are raw because they’re real. There’s no fakery. The reason my photos of Michael look so relaxed and natural is because they are – that relationship is authentic and it has integrity. You can’t force those things.
If you had to pick one moment, what was the highlight of your year?
Pawsa closing the Solid Grooves terrace at DC-10 with Modjo’s Lady. What a moment!
Who is your favorite photographer?
My best mate, Joel Smedley. He's a fantastic portrait photographer.
If you could shoot one person on the planet, who would it be?
Travis Scott. He’s an artist whose work I’ve always appreciated and it’s a different realm to what I currently do
