A landmark photography project
Yummy, 2024
Photography by Beck McNally & Katie O'Neill
Tim Booth is the lead singer, songwriter and co-founder of Manchester indie-rock band James. Their anthemic songs, including Sit Down, Laid, Come Home and She’s a Star, have become enduring classics of British alternative music.
James - 1990 (Tim, front)
Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in 1960, Tim moved to Manchester in 1981 to study drama and acting at the University of Manchester. His route into music was almost accidental. At a university student disco, his flamboyant dancing caught the attention of musicians Jim Glennie, Paul Gilbertson and Gavan Whelan. They invited him to dance alongside the band and, in 1982, Tim progressed from dancer to backing vocalist before eventually becoming their lead singer and the charismatic frontman of what would become James.
His early years in Manchester were spent living in the notorious Hulme Crescent flats before he moved to 86 Palatine Road in Didsbury, a house that was famously, at the time, the first home of Factory Records.
The fledgling band’s breakthrough came when they supported New Order at The Haçienda. Impressed by their performance, Factory Records founder Tony Wilson offered James further opportunities to gig and the chance to record an EP. The resulting release attracted strong reviews in the music press, and a prestigious support slot on The Smiths’ infamous Meat is Murder UK tour soon followed.
Throughout the 1990s, James continued to build on their success, touring internationally and releasing a string of acclaimed and commercially successful albums, including Laid and Whiplash, followed by the 1998 greatest-hits collection The Best of James.
Factory Records had hoped to release James’ debut album, but a major-label bidding war eventually saw Sire Records secure the band. Their debut LP, Stutter, followed.
James’ breakthrough was gradual. Initially attracting a devoted cult following, the band steadily expanded their audience before the release of the Gold Mother album which featured the singles Come Home and most famously, Sit Down, propelling them into the ranks of Britain’s major alternative acts.
Live performance became central to the James experience. The band developed an unconventional, highly spontaneous approach to their shows, with Tim dancing and moving around the stage, interacting with the crowd and turning performances into something closer to a shared emotional experience than a conventional rock concert.
Tim Booth
In 2002, Tim announced that he was leaving the band to concentrate on his own projects. James embarked on a farewell UK tour later that year, culminating in a final hometown performance at the MEN Arena.
Five years later, Tim announced that he was rejoining James for a series of live performances, followed by the release of the album Hey Ma. At the beginning of 2011, he revealed that he was working on new solo material, although James continued to perform live. In 2014, the band released La Petite Mort, their first new album in six years.
James continued to record and tour in the years that followed, maintaining the restless creativity and adventurous live spirit that had always set them apart. In 2023, they marked their 40th anniversary with a UK tour featuring a live orchestra.
In 2025, James embarked on their first headline tour of the United States in 15 years. The shows were met with rave reviews from fans and critics alike, with particular praise for the nine-piece line-up and the extraordinary performance of their frontman.
A James concert is almost a form of communal ritual. The objective is not simply to reproduce the records faithfully, but to create something unpredictable, an experience that pulls both band and audience out of their heads and firmly into the present - Tim Booth
The Band celebrated their first ever official number one studio album in the UK in 2024, as their 18th record, Yummy, hit the top of the charts on the first week of its release.
James - Getting Away With It... the film
James - 2024
In 2026, James premiered their cinematic documentary, Getting Away With It, at Aviva Studios - Factory International in Manchester. The film was simultaneously broadcast live to 250 cinemas across the UK, Ireland and internationally. The film is a soulful and wry account of creativity, friendship and the mistakes that shaped one of British music’s most improbable success stories, it offered a fitting reflection on the extraordinary journey of James and the people at its heart.
James played a free impromptu gig to 5,000 people on the roof of Manchester’s Piccadilly Hotel in 1991
It was on the morning of the film’s premiere when we caught up with Tim for the photoshoot.
Where in the 1980s, Tim rented an apartment in the building which was famously the first home of Factory Records
Related links:
Student reflection: Beck McNally
We picked up Tim and his manager, Charlotte, from their hotel in the city centre. The 20-minute drive to Didsbury gave me an opportunity to get to know Tim ahead of the shoot. He had chosen 86 Palatine Road as the location. The building was the original home of Factory Records and also where Tim lived in the 1980s.
Leading up to the shoot, I wasn’t feeling particularly nervous, but that changed once we started shooting. We only had a short amount of time for the photography, so we concentrated on the grand steps and front door of the building before photographing Tim against a graffiti-covered outbuilding.
Because of the quick-fire pace of the shoot, I struggled to find my voice a little when it came to directing Tim. He was very easy-going and mostly posed himself, appearing extremely comfortable in front of the camera, which I’m sure comes from being in so many photoshoots during his career. We were very fortunate to have perfect photography weather: bright but overcast, providing soft and flattering light.
Beck, Tim & Katie on the steps of 86 Palatine Road
I was reasonably happy with my final images, although I would have liked to have had more time to experiment creatively with poses and composition. A slower pace may have resulted in some more interesting and varied outcomes.
Overall, the experience of working on the shoot was invaluable. It has highlighted areas of my photography that I’d like to develop further, particularly my confidence and ability to direct subjects in a fast-paced environment.