Marino rock photographer focuses on her new exhibition 

AN internationally renowned music photographer, who has toured with Canadian band Arcade Fire and snapped artists including Grace Jones, Stephen Fry and Madonna is set to share some of her sought-after work at Ireland’s premier art fair, Art Source, in the RDS this weekend. 

Marino native Ruth Medjber is living a dream she has had since her dad encouraged her to take up the camera at the age of three.

Ruth has just toured Europe with Arcade Fire and has already been booked to shoot Glastonbury 2019 for the BBC. Ahead of staging her first solo exhibition of ‘Live’ music photography, Ruth will give Art Source fans a sneak preview of concert shots taken of legendary international artists she has photographed. These include Grace Jones, Dua Lipa, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, Green Day, Beyonce, Metallica and The Stone Roses.

Ruth has photographed almost all the acts who have toured Ireland in the last 10 years but her career all started thanks to her dad.

“I got into the scene like any normal teenager, through a love of music and a desire to be part of it,” she says. 

“Since I couldn’t play an instrument or hum a note, photography was my only way in and had always been part of my life.

“My dad used to work selling camera equipment and I’d go with him as he’d visit all the camera shops around Ireland. He started giving me cameras for Christmas as young as three-years-old.”

It was a few years later however, when she realised her dream job was actually real.

“I was 14-years-old at a gig in Temple Bar when I discovered there was such as job as a live music photographer and I then tried every way to achieve my new goal,” says Ruth. 

“In the beginning, I worked every single job that was going. I once did a project for a directory company where I had to photograph the chippers in Dublin.

“I didn’t drive at the time so I was bussing it around in the rain for months until I got a job eventually in Hot Press Magazine and then graduated to NME.”

Fast forward a few years and Ruth’s work has been featured in the likes of Kerrang, Rolling Stone and Classic Rock.

Ruth, the official festival photographer for events such as Electric Picnic and Guinness Amplify, has also been able to photograph bands that she adored as a teenager which brings back memories of sneaking into gigs when she was only 14. 

“I’ve had the pleasure of photographing a lot of my teenage heroes, like Placebo and the Manic Street Preachers,” she says. 

“When I was 14 or 15, I used to sneak into gigs to see acts like Bell X1 and Lisa Hannigan, so now, when I work for those same acts, I always try to keep in mind how excited my younger self would be if she knew what she’d be up to!”

Ruth’s new exhibition will open on November 23 and run for two weeks in the Fumbally Exchange on Dame Lane but you are invited to a sneak peek of a select few prints at Art Source which takes place at the RDS from November 9-11. Admission is €10 adults, €8 OAPs, and children under 16 can go free if accompanied by a parent or guardian.  

Opening times: Friday November 9 (11am-9pm), Saturday November 10 (10am-6pm and Sunday November 11 (10am-6pm).