Q&A with Niall Hodson
The Manc turned Londoner's new book is a love letter to his adolescence in Greater Manchester
No sooner did had I got on the call to interview Niall Hodson about his new book Only The Man On The Moon Known and He Won't Tell were we talking about mutual friends, university football and our favourite magazines. There's a bit of an exaggerated stereotype around northern friendliness, but the immediacy with which speaking to Niall felt like chatting with an old friend, supports the narrative. His book (which takes its title from an old adage from his grandma) represents a period of his adolescence characterised by youthful misdemeanours with his friends in Manchester like the ones depicted in the trailer above. As well as blowing up dustbins and eating apple crumble his college days were also the beginning of an exciting photography career that has seen his shoot for adidas, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Mundial, Urban Outfitters and many more. "I basically started off at college doing graphic design and I also did photography" he tells me. It was making zines for the graphic side and wanting to emulate high fashion editorials and campaigns that unearthed his passion for the craft. "By the time it got to the two years of college I'd fallen in love with trying to replicate these fashion editorials more so than actually making the graphics" .
Throughout his portfolio this is a plethora of projects though highly stylised, feel more like documentary work than fashion. For example a project with Arsenal FC's bowls club gives a romantic insight into the club's social community. "I've maybe been in the game a bit too long where I'm sort of having to pitch myself as a fashion photographer but yeah I believe that everyone has a story to tell. I think the attachment to taking photos these days is definitely narrative, storytelling and being able to communicate a theme or a topic or a person".
"First and foremost its about looking inside yourself to see what makes you tick" he tells me "we're in a market where media and the fashion world is so saturated that the best thing to do is focus on yourself" which perhaps goes some way to explaining why any working creative amidst a cost of living crisis would put their efforts into the stress of publishing a personal project. Whilst the book doesn't follow a chronological narrative for the entirety, there are three loosely depicted short stories throughout it. It aims to be something of a time capsule into events throughout a period of life rather than a linear storybook. "It's a real chapter because my works come on as well. So it got to a point where it felt silly to continue trying to shoot this body of work because I've changed as a photographer".
What hasn't changed is Niall's evident pride in where he's from, which he credits as a driving force behind the book. "I'm trying to pay homage to where I came from. Cause when I moved to London and told stories of what I used to get up to as a kid everyone was so surprised that we used to go out blowing up blue bins" apparently his grandma did see the funny side "No ones really told that story before" . Its particularly nice to hear a native Mancunian so passionate about telling their own story. As football's relationship with fashion has become mainstream, Manchester's position as de facto football capital has made the "scally" or even cringier "blokecore" aesthetic the go-to for brands and agencies lacking in genuine creativity. Rather than a commercial caricature Only The Man On The Moon Known and He Won't Tell gives readers the opportunity to experience red brick estates, bin explosions and trekking through fields in earnest.
Talking a little more about the trailer he tells me it was inspired by a 1973 film called The Long Goodbye. I'm unfamiliar but Elliot Gould's performance as detective Philip Marlowe made quite the impressive. "I think he's the coolest person I've ever seen in my entire life" . The typefaces and jump cuts provided the format of the trailer. Niall thought it essential that there be some moving to preempt the adventurous narrative feel he wanted the book to evoke. "When I was shooting I was quite aware that I wanted it to feel like a memory. So there's a shot of like a bowl of apple crumble being eaten throughout". The production of the trailer was full of nice full circle moments. The apple crumble used in shot was made by his grandma as he told her about what he used to get up to aged 13/14, those shenanigans also fuelled by her apple crumble a decade or so before. All topped off by Janko Nilovic's Trumpet Sketch. This project is a beautiful homage to youthful adventure. If you'd like some adult adventure you can head to the book's opening with complimentary drinks this Friday 1st of December in Shoreditch.
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