Barra-based photographer, director and cinematographer Stephen Kearney is very much in demand at home and abroad and recently directed BBC ALBA documentary Barra to Barcelona about 10-year-old international fashion model Alanna Lily MacNeil, here he talks to Jacqueline Wake Young.
Stephen Kearney is obsessive about lighting. “For me it’s what makes an image and gives me so much scope to create emotion in the picture or scene, which is all every artist wants,” he says.
“I am a film and cinematography fan and I also love renaissance art which sometimes influences my lighting styles.”
His photography has a unique aesthetic which makes him highly sought-after for fashion and advertising campaigns and editorials across Europe and Australia.
Stephen, 55, lives on Barra where he and his wife Dee run Little Day Productions, the company behind Barra to Barcelona which recently aired on BBC Alba, following the story of child model Alanna Lily MacNeil.
Stephen says: “Dee knows Alanna’s mum and she kept saying to me, ‘Stephen we have to make a documentary about this wee girl, she is amazing and her story is so good’.
“Dee had photographed Alanna when she was in P3 and thought she was amazing on camera and such a lovely and polite little girl.”
As his first broadcast project, it was one of Stephen’s career highlights, although he says: “There are so many because I love it all.
“The first time I shot for billboards then drove past them was great. Same with magazine covers. Real highlights for me are working with kind and talented people.”
As a child Stephen loved to draw, and at 14 he got his first camera.
He then went from being a young freelance photographer to running his own commercial studio and signing with well-known agencies for fashion and jewellery shoots in Italy, Spain, France and Scotland.
“I have DC Thomson to thank for my intro to fashion photography,” he adds.
“I also worked in educating the next generation of photographers including working at the Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia’s top fashion college.
“I recommend to students and young photographers to immerse themselves in art and get inspired and excited by it.”
Stephen has photographed “some interesting people” including Prinz Board, formerly of Black Eyed Peas; actors Jean Reno and Hugh Dancy, jazz guitarist Martin Taylor MBE and many top European models “whose names aren’t known but whose faces are”.
“I consider working with good models a privilege,” he says. “On shoot days I hang out with them while they are in make-up, getting to know them, so by the time they step on set we already know each other.
“I tell clients to put their budget on the models as they sell their products and are worth their weight in gold.”
Asked what makes a good model he says: “Confidence. Just knowing themselves and how to move for the camera. That’s so important.”
Closer to home, he works with Lewis skincare company ishga, which exports globally, Isle of Barra Distillers and others.
Directing and cinematography were added to his repertoire after a chat at a pool party in Australia.
“Music producer Rod McCormack, the top seller in Australia, had seen my fashion work and asked me to direct a music video.”
Stephen was brought up in Stirling but his mum is from Barra, to which they returned every summer for holidays.
His parents later retired there and in 2017 Stephen and Dee decided to move to Barra from Australia.
“We relocated Little Day Productions from Terrigal, NSW, Australia to Castlebay, Barra, and immediately started working,” he says.
“The kids loved school in Castlebay and with their wee Aussie accents fitted in perfectly.”
Stephen says 46-year-old Dee is Little Day Productions.
“She is from Sydney, but did her photography degree in Edinburgh,” he says.
“After graduating she came to our studio to work. She is an excellent photographer herself.
“After moving back to her homeland with our three young children, we set up Little Day Productions.
“Dee now produces all our work which is sometimes a mammoth task.
“She is a brilliant mum, wife, artist and producer and a constant source of inspiration for me.”
They do manage to “keep work chat in its place” though.
“With two teenage girls and our 11-year-old son we wouldn’t be allowed to chat about work at home anyway!
“We had always got on brilliantly and she is an absolutely massive part of my work. I would be nowhere without her.”
Stephen’s other passion is music, getting a drum kit as well as a camera at age 14.
He thought he would be a professional musician and nearly signed a record deal with his young band which supported Del Amitri and Hue and Cry.
On Barra he now works with Mick MacNeil, “an incredibly talented musician, writer and producer” who composed and recorded the soundtrack for Barra to Barcelona.
Ceilidh band
They have also formed a ceilidh band called Caolas with other local musicians.
As for future plans, Stephen says: “Styles and tastes will always change and I love my work, and hope to keep producing images and films that people enjoy.
“I particularly enjoy putting great music and visuals together.
“I encourage our kids to find what they love and practice non-stop. It’s great watching them growing up and finding their own ways.”
Conversation