Category: music

Most of the band photography I’ve done is of live shows, but in the last few years I’ve done some band portraits, which is becoming more interesting to me.  A few weeks ago I photographed Take Me With You, a melodic post-punk band based here in Pittsburgh, in a rehearsal.  It was interesting to observe the dynamic of musicians when they’re focused on each other rather than an audience.

We also did a series of group shots in and around their practice space, even venturing outside on a freezing cold night to get some shots under an old vine-covered bridge.

Here, their focus was outwards, towards the camera; the body language more guarded.  The light was interesting, though.

Earlier this month I got to see Meshuggah for the third time.  I’ve taken pictures of them before but this was the first time I got some decent ones.

These are right off the camera, I didn’t alter the color or saturation.  The intensity of the lighting works really well with Meshuggah’s dense, super-heavy sound.

At this venue (the Fillmore Silver Spring) they station a line of guys in a cordoned-off strip in front of the stage to gently convey crowd-surfers to safety.  I get why they do it, but if even if you get close enough to get a good shot of the band, it’s almost impossible to get any that don’t include the staff.  That bald guy with the glasses with his back to the stage is in almost every one of my photos; a static, unchanging element that counters the dynamic and the interplay between the band and the audience.  No matter how transporting the physical experience of the sound and light might be, having that fixed element reminds you it’s happening within tight parameters — a highly managed situation.