Life Through A Lens - Photographer Enda Casey's picks his favourite showbiz photos
If you’ve ever been asked to stand in to a photograph at a music or social event in the Royal county, there’s a significant chance the man behind the camera was Enda Casey.
The Trim-based photographer has been working for the Meath Chronicle for almost 12 years capturing all forms of entertainment events ranging from 21st birthday parties to world class rock bands at Slane Castle.
Describing himself as a “Music, Event and Press Photographer”, married dad-of-one, Enda is first and foremost an avid rock music fan so putting this together with his love of photography, it is easy to see how his favourite place to be is in the pit in front of a band – “gigs come in all shapes and sizes, each of them different,” he says.
Over the years, he has photographed a huge array of well-known musicians, comedians and stage performances – all mainly under the common understanding of three songs (or equivalent duration) – no flash. Like any young person growing up in the 1980’s, Slane Castle appeared quickly onto his musical radar and his first big gig by the Boyne was Bruce Springsteen in 1984 and since then he has attended most of the Slane concerts starting out with Oasis in 2009 – “a surreal experience,” he states.
“It’s an amazing place and one has to hand it to Lord Henry Mountcharles and his team at Slane Castle for the many amazing concerts over the years, he deserves enormous credit for all he’s done.”
inspire asked Longford native Enda (51), to delve into his archive and pick some of his most memorable photographs and are delighted to present this small selection of distinct images in colour and black & white - each telling a story and all taken at Meath venues and locations.
Life through a lens...Trim photographer Enda Casey
“There is so much material to choose from so I could make very different choices next month but these will do for this turn.
“Sadly, some of those in the photographs presented are no longer with us, but this is not why they were selected – It was just about my love of the moments I experienced when taking the photographs and I hope you enjoy the story being told by the photographs, or perhaps you may even have been at the show.”
“It’s hard to imagine that we lost both Brendan Grace and Keith Flint this year – even seeing their names side by side in this article brings home the diverse nature of what I have photographed down the years.
“However; I didn’t get here alone and have many to thank from the beginning until now, including my mother and my late father, Tommie, David Mullen and Navan Camera Club, Seamus Farrelly, Barry Cronin, Neil McShane, John D. Kelly (Clonmel), many other photographers, my wonderful wife Clare and daughter Muireann and of course the Meath Chronicle team for keeping me moving in the direction I wanted to go in over the years.
“In 2017, seven days after bidding Dad a sad farewell, I faced the mighty Guns N’ Roses in Slane – the music and the music photography kept me going, and while my late father always wanted me to play traditional Irish music, I have just started playing the tin whistle with Maeve Ni Raghallaigh in Rathmolyon and am, I suppose, becoming a “musician of sorts!
“It’s really very enjoyable, I’ve so much to learn but one is never too old to learn something new, be it music or photography or something else, but the time will pass whether you do it or not - music connects us all and the show must always go on.
This photograph of the legendary blues-man, Don Baker, was taken in The Venue Theatre in Ratoath in 2018. Don had just put together a new band and played a sell-out show on the night as he concluded a national tour. With many musicians, a rigid and tight facial expression can often reflect the effort going into the performance, especially when hitting the tricky chords or playing solos and indeed there is plenty of that when Don is performing, but on some occasions we get treated to that simple, contented smile. This photograph is on the front cover of Don’s aptly titled 2019 album, “The Blues Man” – Keep on rocking and smiling for the cameras, Don.
This photograph of the recently deceased Brendan Grace (rest in peace) was taken at The Venue Theatre in Ratoath in 2007. While the country is still coming to terms with the untimely loss of this great man, I fondly recall that meeting Brendan was amazing as we all grew up watching him on TV – such a funny gentleman both on and off the stage, a man of the people. The next evening my mobile phone rang and I didn’t recognise the number but answered the call anyway. Who was it only Brendan himself to thank the Meath Chronicle and I for covering his show – how nice was that?