Rob Nicholson on iconic photography, Netflix, Steve Bracknall and that Arctic Monkeys link
Reporter Chris Hallam chats with Rob Nicholson about photos, Netflix, Steve Bracknall and Arctic Monkeys...
Rob Nicholson is a man with his fingers in so many different pies, it’s a wonder he hasn’t run out of fingers.
Having tried his hand at a wide variety of jobs over the years, it was in photography that he found not only his niche but you could say his true calling.
He is the man behind Pedalo Photography - a name inspired by friend James O’Hara (co-founder of Tramlines and entrepreneur), who suggested he should start taking photos professionally when they were on a bike ride together.
“It started because in lockdown, me and O’Hara were cycling to break the boredom. He says ‘you should do it as a business’.
“O’Hara said ‘call it Pedalo because we’ve been cycling.’ It came from that.”
That suggestion led to Rob taking professional photos for one of James’ trendy city bars, and the rest is history… in the making.
Back in early March, 2020, Rob bought his first camera, a £500 secondhand Sony A7 from Harrison Cameras on London Road, just two weeks before the first lockdown.
It was during this time period while he was unable to work, that Rob he “just fell into it”.
“I was diving into YouTube videos and teaching myself little tricks. Everything has been self-taught since then,” he said.
It wasn’t just the taking of photos with his camera that Rob patiently began to master, it was the editing as well.
“I took time with it all. Like the way to figure out how lighting works. Video since then too. You know, how to do certain things in video, colour grade and all that kind of thing, it’s all self-taugh,” he said.
Learning the craft of photography and videography was a monumental epiphany for Rob, who realised that he’d found his calling.
He shared this realisation with his partner, explaining: “It took me to be 36/37 years old before I was like ‘this is what I want to do’, and now I’m very fortunate that it’s paying off and it’s my job.”
For anyone pursuing their dream there are always sacrifices to be made and lots of risk.
Rob said: “I wouldn’t have been able to leave my job if I hadn’t sold my house at the time. But I just thought of the money I had. ‘That’s a year’s worth of wages,’ I told myself.
“See what happens, give it a go and if it doesn’t work I’ll have to get another job. Would you rather go and try, or not try at all and regret it?”
He diligently worked at figuring things out, buying add-ons for his camera over time.
“I started taking photos in March 2020 and then I bought a flash and a soft box. I wanted to learn how to do that”, he said.
Every single camera that he’s bought so far has been second-hand.
“I started taking photos of the fake plants we had in the house to learn how to use the flash, playing with sync speeds, figuring out what that means and then O’Hara asked me to come and photograph cocktails for him at Public.” It’sa trendy bar situated in the old public toilets below Sheffield Town Hall.
Rob began taking photos in other places like Ashoka on Ecclesall Road.
Initially, he took the photos for free because in his words he was learning.
His efforts and perfectionist endeavour have since paid dividends. Over the past five-years Rob has gone from strength-to-strength as a photographer and videographer as well.
You’ve probably seen his work without realising - including head shots of young, up and coming actor Owen Cooper, who starred in the hit Netflic drama Adolescence, made by Sheffield-based Warp Films.
“Mark (from Warp Films) asked me to go and do some head shots. Some of the cast were young, so I did one of Owen and then he's blown up. Then that picture I took of him kind of blew up too.”
Owen is the young actor famous for playing 13-year-old Jamie Miller in the hit series.
Fake accounts were made, using Rob’s photo, to falsely promote an Adolescence series 2. Something that he swiftly debunked.
Pedalo has a stylistic approach to photography that results in plenty of plagiarism and uncredited use.
He has since photographed Tom Rowley (formerly of Milburn and the “fifth Arctic Monkey”) for his recent solo album, and also filmed the videos for the album.
Heavily active on the Pedalo instagram, he recently uploaded an excellent visual breakdown of his creative approach to the album cover for “Moses and the Drones”.
Asked what is was like growing up around so many different creatives, Rob said: “I think that’s the thing, it’s a very creative city, yet there’s a very Northern thing of not wanting to talk about itself.”
Sheffield is a city with people who don’t have time for a bragger, instead we often inadvertently deny doling out the credit that is deserved.
“Yeah, I agree,” Rob said. “Humble to a fault, at times.”
Explaining some of the inspiration which led him to photographym, Rob said: “I’ve always been interested. My uncle was a photographer for The Star back in the 90s. So that probably planted a seed. My brother’s a great photographer as well.”
You’ve probably heard of Rob’s brother, Andy Nicholson.
He was the original bassist in the Arctic Monkeys.
Last year Andy released, ‘I Bet This Looks Good On Your Coffee Table,’ a 135-page book packed with personal photos taken by Andy during his time touring while in the world-famous band.
Up until the release of the book, Andy tended not to say too much, preferring to remain in the background. Purposefully avoiding questions about a period of time in his life that was both stratospheric and hugely impactful.
“The book I think was very cathartic for him”, Rob said as he shared how he told his brother that he had to talk about his work.
The Arctic boys remain close to this day and maintain good friendships.
There’s no getting around the fact that Rob Nicholson has lived quite an entertaining life - a famous brother, a bunch of famous mates and co-collaborators, he’s also the goalkeeper for viral online sensation Steve Bracknall’s Royal Oak - a spoof football team.
He even played in goal in-front of a packed out Sheffield F.C. ground in a game dubbed ‘the biggest Sunday League match in history’.
The game itself was streamed over 55,000 times on BBC’s iPlayer and was reportedly watched live more than NASA’s launch of Artemis II.
He’s also in a band, he’s the bass player in Dead World Leaders a Sheffield-created rock band who played at the original Tramlines and were praised in their own right in various publications.
But what’s next in the pipeline?
“I’d love to work with other people, Nick Eagle. He does loads for the BBC. I’d love to go and work with him. Learn from him, stylistically,” Rob said.
“I’ve got an idea for a photoshoot that I want to do, celebrating the black guys in Sheffield music who’ve done an amazing job in the city that gets overlooked. There are loads of people from here who are worthy of that.”
Rob is talking about Sheffield’s multi-genre musicians, such as Coco, K-Dot, Shinobi and Matic Mouth – prolific artists in their own right across the country, but perhaps not as well championed as they should and could be.
“I want to celebrate elements of music culture that are just as integral to Sheffield’s music as your Arctic Monkeys, Milburn, Reverend and the Makers, Bromheads… all of that,” he said.
Find out more about Pedalo Photography: https://www.pedalophotography.com/
Follow Pedalo on social media: https://www.instagram.com/p_e_d_a_l_o/