‘I was going to Derry as an escapism every weekend,’ Nance Hall

Nance Hall is a talented photographer who goes by the name Starfckers. Nance is hugely inspired by music, and was born in Bristol after moving to Ireland at a young age.

She is now living in Derry, and her photos have been featured in outlets such as the Guardian, Chordblossom and NME.

“I’ve been doing music photography since I was 16,” she said.

“I moved to Derry in August 2021, but I’ve been coming up here since 2019.

“I actually shot my first ever gig here, and it was in the Nerve Centre. I used two phones. I had the phone that I would use for texting and stuff, and I had an older phone.

“It was an LG-G4 I kept with no SIM card in it. I know LG doesn’t make phones anymore, but at the time, that was the best camera I ever had. I would go to the gigs with the two phones in my back pockets.”

Nance has captured local acts such as Cherym, Tramp and Charity Shop Vinyl.

The photos she produces are very natural and authentic in tone.

Nance moved to Belfast from England when she was just two years old. But she has found her tribe, her calling and her true friends in the north west music scene.

“From coming up to Derry for my first gig, I met a lot of incredible people,”she said.

“I met a lot of people through music, and through general friendship. From September 2019 onwards, I was pretty much in Letterkenny or Derry every weekend, and despite my schooling and despite going to tech, I was like ‘Heck it! I am going to come up anyway’.

I got to meet a lot of brilliant people through Derry.

“That is how I got to meet Siânna (lead singer of Tramp). I met her and was always going up to see her and staying in her house on weekends when I was in Derry.

“When I lived in Belfast, I went through a lot of hardships when I was younger.

“I was going to Derry as an escapism every weekend. It’s a place that made me feel so loved and so welcomed, and so at home.”

To see more of Nance’s photography, please follow at:

www.instagram.com/starfckers.