"Karen McBride has a love affair with rock'n'roll that started the
first time she witnessed Elvis on TV as a child."

Place of Birth - Rochdale. Born in a small stone built cottage on a hill in midwinter. Raised in Salford in a small red brick terrace house opposite a park. Grew up in North Manchester in a 6 bedroom council house 3 miles from Manchester's city centre.

Art - An interest in art started to develop when karen was at primary school, good at art - she started painting sceneries for the school-plays, that extended in having her work displayed regularly on the walls of the school corridors. Her first published cover was a drawing of the local youth club building, she was 12. Four years later she applied to go to art college but got turned down due to a 'lack of extensive portfolio'. However this didn't deter her from pursuing work in some kind of artistic environment. After leaving school with no qualifications she embarked on a youth training scheme which saw her into involvement in the printing world, it was there that she got hooked on darkroom techniques.

Education - Karen set out with two ambitions one was to become an Archaeologist and the other a Photographer. She worked hard at night school gaining 2 A-levels in Art and Photography both had led her to get an unusual unconditional offer at university to study Archaeology. However, the temptation to travel beckoned and off she went, camera in one hand and a hundred pounds in the other, eight years later she would re-apply for university and the same professor would give her the same offer, it was there that finally her two dreams would be realized. She is proud of her BA Honors.

Flying - Due to fortunate circumstances Karen has one of the largest and most extensive collections of Aerial Photography of the Archaeological landscape of the Shetland and Orkney Isles, winning her Aerial landscape Photographer of the year by the Aerial Archaeology Research Group. http://aarg.univie.ac.at She trained under Professor Jones who pioneered the kite technique in Morocco whilst researching Roman Forts. Professor Jones and Karen were planning a book together, but sadly Barrie died suddenly whilst walking the hills in Wales.

Music - has always been at the center of Karen and her families lifestyle. listening to the music of Johnny Cash and Elvis helped them get through the poverty of 70's Salford and Manchester. This love carried through to the point where her 4 brothers formed a band called the 22 Strings. It was at this point that Karen's photography started to take the direction that she is known for today. Karen Mcbride is now recognized as one of the most notable female photographers in Manchester, this is celebrated by Karen featuring on the cover of the magazine All About Manchester in support of International women's day.

Now - Karen prides herself on paying as much attention to unsigned bands as she does touring with Scissor Sisters, and shooting stadium bands like Bon Jovi and Oasis. Her clients include many big named artists, record labels and music venues. Her pictures can be regularly seen on the BBC Manchester website, In the City, Designer Magazine and The Tube. Also her work has found it's way into Status Quo's 'RIFFS' world tour book, Countless other publications ranging from CD covers to posters to Giant Billboards in the US for The House of Blues, T Mobiles Tour Log book for the Robbie Williams Close Encounter Tour 2006 for which she was official Photographer, and most recently her pictures of Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley's Guitarist, Friend and first Manager can be found in the 'International Musicians Museum' in Nashville and in the Graceland Magazine 'Elvis International'. Karen is also regular in Professional Photographer magazine, and is writing her first article comparing the new Fuji S5 Pro to the one she uses which is the Fuji S3 Pro.

An exhibition of Karens work is planned for 2007 at a venue in
the heart of Manchester. For more details this and other
events join her mailing list.

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