The Voice Project

Joseph Arthur » Peter Gabriel
Shock the Monkey

Jo met my father in the mid-nineties and signed to his label Realworld records. When he heard Jo’s music he was immediately struck by the depth of his lyric writing, something that is important to him and his own lyric writing. They have remained admirers of one another and have worked on several projects together including “Big Blue Ball”, a album of musicians from around the world recording together for one week at Realworld studios. Jo has since become family and I personally have always loved working with him.

I was excited to do this shoot as he is a close friend but worried how I would fit into, and light his studio as all the homes that Jo has had have been full of his paintings, found objects, instruments and anything else you can imagine. In what seem like a cluttered environment is almost a fantasyland of fun and entertainment. So besides my adjustments in the logistics of shooting I am always finding something new in the frame of the camera even weeks after I have cut the video.

Besides The Voice Project Joseph has already been touched by the women and children of Northern Uganda through an organization, “A River Blue”, named after a song that he wrote and later recorded with the children’s choirs in Uganda. Please look under our “programs” link for more information on A River Blue.

I have worked with Jo on many occasion shooting a couple of music videos and still photographs with him and am always inspired by his own visual style as an artist. His creativity pours out of him like no one I know and somehow reaches everyone he comes in contact with. — AG

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