Bullet For My Valentine Photographer To Release ‘The Poison to Venom’ Photobook

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Photographer James Sharrock has announced a new 200-page photographic book called ‘The Poison to Venom’, which will share his time documenting Bullet For My Valentine from 2005-2015.

James is raising funds through Crowdfunder to do a limited print run of 1000 editions of the book, which will be the only place you’ll be able to grab the book in this format, making it a true collectors edition.

Talking about the project, James said “As a music photographer Covid 19 resulted in the loss of my income. The music industry has ground to a halt for 12 months meaning I’ve had none of my regular work, but it’s given me the time to go back through my archives which gave me the idea for this project that I’m really excited to share with you.”

“I met Bullet For My Valentine in 2005. I had just moved to London from Australia to shoot for Kerrang! magazine. One of my first shoots was for a news feature with a new band from Wales who were clearly going places. The guys had just finished recording The Poison and they were just getting started. I didn’t know it, but I was shooting one of the UK’s most successful metal bands since Iron Maiden.”

“Between 2005 and 2015 I shot many features and we travelled the world together, I even directed two music videos – for Raising Hell and Army of Noise.”

“The Poison to Venom documents two stories: the story of a band, and a story about people. I was a witness to Bullet’s incredible rise to fame – from tiny venues, to top billing at festivals, to magazine front covers. It was a rollercoaster and I hope the book brings fans along for the ride they went on during this time.”

“I also saw Bullet’s transformation from young, hopeful metalheads to globally recognised stars – we hit Siberia, Columbia, and everywhere in between. It was an incredible journey and I’m excited to share it with you and all the Bullet fans across the world.”

“With the help of some of the best art directors in the magazine world I’m making two versions of The Poison to Venom – a standard and a deluxe boxed version. It’s a little different to any other music photography book you’ve seen before. Designed with the fans in mind, pages can be removed without damaging the book itself. There will be a bunch of extras in various deluxe boxed versions which you can see on https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/thepoisontovenom once the crowdfunder campaign launches .”

Talking about working with James, Bullet For My Valentine lead vocalist Matt Tuck says “I’ve known James for the best part of 15 years now. We first crossed paths in 2005 doing one of our first big press photo shoots for Kerrang! magazine in London. We called him the “yaaarrrr!” guy, cos he would always do this crazy pirate noise to try and make us smile during the shoots when all we were trying to do was look cool and as metal as fuck. He would always get us in the end!!”

“It was always a lot of fun doing shoots with James as he was easy to hang out with, calming, polite, creative and very funny.”

“James was part of the very early years of BFMV capturing us on and off stage and watching the rapid rise of a band who didn’t even see it coming. Those early days were so special in so many ways and to have those memories in picture form are so priceless, we were just young guys living in the moment and enjoying every second of it.”

“As the years have passed we’ve had the pleasure of working with James all over the world from rocking the biggest arenas in Europe, riding the subways of NYC and drinking cocktails and partying at five star Colombian hotels and all were great times. He directed two music videos for us for Raising Hell and Army of Noise.”

“Cheers to you James and thank you for capturing us and being part of the journey. To everyone reading this, enjoy the ride! YARRRRR! MT.”

You can help crowdfund the book at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/thepoisontovenom and see some exclusive teaser shots here.