Into the groove

Dean Belcher has had a long and successful career as a portrait and commercial photographer based in London. But it was his personal project, aptly named 33rpm, that caught AP’s eye while visiting 2018’s Photo North festival in Harrogate.

While at the show, a portable studio had been set up to capture similar portraits to those that you see here, with subjects clutching their first vinyl purchase – or indeed anything that they deemed to be an important possession.

In between shoots, AP spoke to Belcher to discover the motivations behind the project, which seems to have resonated in some way with almost all who have seen it. It all started, as these things often do, with an off-the-cuff observation, made while in a record shop.

‘There were some young lads, about 13 years old, looking through records, getting excited about it,’ he recalls. ‘I just thought – that reminds me of when we used to do that every Saturday, making that decision about whatWhen I listen to music, it takes me off to another place.’