Photographer: Tanner Douglass
Site: Facebook
Based in: PA
All these photos are all from the Heartless/Full Of Hell full US Tour…
ONE
Somewhere on the highway in Louisiana
We were on our way to the singer of Thou’s house, and we get on the highway and see all this smoke in the distance, but did not think anything of it. As we got closer and closer, the smoke got darker and we saw a car engulfed in flames. It was like we were driving past a movie set or something, we could hear the tires exploding. I read on the news that some car hit them from behind, and sent them flying into the median and they wrapped around the pole. It was a hit and run.
Photographer: Jeremy Beals
Sites: Facebook/Flickr
Based in: Southern California
To start, I want to give a big thank you to Earsplit for allowing me access to many of the bands I’ve photographed. Without their help, my body of work would literally be half the size it is now. I also want to thank Cvlt Nation for offering me this space to showcase my work, it means a lot.
I’m going to start by being blunt: I’m not an old or well-worn photographer; if anything I consider myself quite the novice – this is especially true in regards to concert photography. Although I’ve been rigorously studying photography for the past few years, it was only (as of Dec. 2011) six months ago when I first turned my camera toward the stage. In this feature, I’m supposed to show you seven photos that have a great meaning to me, but with so little time behind my belt, it’s hard to choose a set of photos that not only stand out/have a story to me, but work well within a set together.
So that’s what I tried to do. I chose a sampling of photos that, although may not best represent the broad spectrum of my work over the last two and a half years, certainly represents how I typically choose to portray my subjects.
ONE
Harassor
A lot of people in the Seven Stories series have had some interaction with Harassor, and I’m no exception. My first experience ever with this band was Pete Majors calmly walking onto the stage prior to the start of their set, and watching him calmly douse his body with thick blood and enter what I can only describe as a meditative stance that made the viewer contemplate whether Majors had found the spiritual door to hell. Then, as the music began to play, Majors came out of his almost trance-like state quite quickly; but before he rose completely to begin his evocations with his band-mates, I was able to snap this portrait.
Photographer: Carrie Whitney
Site: FB
Based in: Brooklyn, NY
ONE
Botch, 12.27.97 RCKNDY Seattle, WA
ENERGY. These guys were always exploding with it. When I listen to Botch this is exactly what I picture. There is so much time between then and now, I’m not sure if this picture looks like how they sound or they sound how this picture looks. Either way, I’m glad I was there to shoot it. Botch opened for Undertow’s reunion show this night. All the bands that played that night (See 6 Murder City Devils) inspired me to move back to Seattle in 1998.
Photographer: Markus Shaffer
Site: oldscratchphotos.com
Based in: Brooklyn
I’ve been photographing live music for over 20 years now. Occasionally for publication but mostly for the bands whom suffer my lens in front of them while they perform. Music has been such a powerful force in my life for so long it’s hard to image what existence would be without it. In so many ways, music has given to me and made my life all that much better. Be it through the visceral feelings experienced through listening or through the world of friends and camaraderie that has come from all the musicians I’ve met over the years, music has been a staple of my existence since my early teens.
Living in New York affords one the amazing opportunity of getting to see an extraordinary amount of live music. We are lucky to have a very dedicated group of people who book shows, run clubs and generally make a huge effort to promote and perpetuate the scene of heavy music here. With such a scene comes an even larger group of talented people who are involved in some way or another. The abovementioned who make it happen, but also the artists, photographers, people who run music websites, and certainly not least, the musicians themselves. I constantly find myself humbled to be surrounded by such talent of all kinds. It’s not often I make an effort to share my photographs with the public at large. Thus, having been asked to contribute here is an honor.
ONE
Black Tusk
One of my all time favorite photos of any band. These guys are always smiling on stage. Nothing else I’ve shot of any band has ever come close to personifying the performance in the way this does. They are fun as hell live and this image will always remind me of that.
Photographer: Jordan Fogal
Site: Primaldimensions.tumblr.com
Based in: NC
ONE
Boris live at Cat’s Cradle October 2011
Boris is always a great show and even though I’m not a gigantic fan of their newer material, hearing it live was still amazing. They played a lot of tracks from Heavy Rocks I & II and New Album then some favorites from Pink and Smile. This shot was during one of their heavy droning interludes. The horns thrown by Atsuo and Wata’s drone stance really capture my favorite aspects of Boris.
Photographer: Astrid Tonella
Site: FB
Based in: Copenhagen
The following images have been taken this year in various venues across Europe. Like all of you, I’m a music enthusiast and going to gigs is one of my main hobbies and addictions. I like to keep a memory of these precious moments, hence, the link between concert and photography has become key to me. I don’t pretend to be an artist, but I shoot with my heart and I try to pay tribute to the band I photograph the best I can.
I am truly honored to be placed between all these many talented photographers. Many thanks to CVLT Nation for giving me the opportunity to show my work and of course, many thanks to the different organizers in Europe for their efforts and for allowing us to attend mind-blowing shows!
ONE
Last summer, I finally got the opportunity to catch Boris on stage here in Copenhagen. I’ve been longing to see them for years, and Japanese bands always come up with interesting performances, so I was quite excited. I usually prefer small venues, as the atmosphere is much more palpable and intimate than it is in larger venues. However, one advantage of larger venues is the amazing lights which enable you to obtain a wider variety of pictures. I captured that shot. It’s actually one of my favorites of the Boris series – the light, the smoke surrounding Takeshi like mist – its texture reminds me a bit of a Japanese painting by Hasegawa Tohaku called “Pine Trees” giving a mysterious aspect to the photo.
READ MORE…
Photographer: Alexander (Alec) Ricketts
Site: Flickr
Based In: Southern Indiana
ONE
This piece is titled Ritual. I think that the reason this has appealed to me is mostly due to the composition, just something about the contortion of his arms, which also happens to be the subject. I was in a very old cemetery outside of my hometown of Evansville, Indiana with a friend of mine, whom frequently models in my photographs. It was one of those days that was so strangely grey and overcast that it could almost make you feel like a living character out of a David Lynch film. This turned out to be my favorite shot of the entire day because it holds some sense of oddity to me. Even the hand gesture is significant, and like an Escher picture, although it isn’t significantly easy to see, once you see it you will always see it.
Seven Stories…Amy Kay4
Posted In Features,Seven Stories
Photographer: Amy Kay
Site: stayclean.tumblr.com
Based in: Portland, OR
ONE
This photo came from a show I went to in Oakland, CA at Yer Hauz (or Hazmat), a punk warehouse/living space that has changed hands and names a few times. It was my 30th birthday, and I just wanted to go to California and have a big week long party. SUCCESS! The show was a few of my friends’ bands and the guy on the left was being pretty crazy and dancing violently during the sets, causing injuries to himself and others. This is a moment between him and one of the people who runs the space as they work out their issues. I have always been drawn to the colors of this photo, including the background graffiti, but also really love the expressions on both their faces. It’s kind of like a freeze frame of two people trying to understand very different points of view. Plus, blood is cool!
Photographer: Erik Truchinski
Site: Autumn Wind Photography
Based in: Portland, OR
ONE
This photo was taken at Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, OR, on a mostly cloudy day…some sun shining through as you can notice, I loved the way it played off of the door of this mausoleum. I have a fascination with cemeteries and the lives of people in them…imagining the story behind their life and death, mausoleums really draw me in, the architecture of some of them is so interesting and dark.
Photographer: Jennifer Williams
Site: Wicked Ways Photography
Based in: Midway, GA
ONE
This is a picture of The Murder Junkies playing down at the Landshark Cafe down in Jax Beach Florida. This is probably one of my favorite shots. I really love it. I use it as my profile shot on my “Wicked Ways Photography” Facebook site. Most of the picture I take I do a lens drag for effect but if there is too much white light then I prefer to go black and white with a strong contrast. That is what happened with this shot of Merle and Dino from the band “The Murder Junkies”. If you know anything about punk then you know the guy on the right with the beard is Merle and his brother was the famous or “infamous’ G.G. Allin. One of my friends is Scott Cockren from the Spo-its and he is buds with them. He always told me how I need to see them so when I heard my friends from the band GHOSTWITCH was opening for them I had to go. Dino the drummer is well… a little different. Plays ALMOST totally nude… he keeps his shoes and socks on. Awesome! Of course there are some shots I can’t put on facebook or they will get deleted. I had already put my camera up when Dino did his signature “drumstick trick”… If you don’t know what that is or if your afraid of germs, don’t ever collect a drumstick from that band! It involves him bending over and the drumsticks going bye bye for a moment… Seriously. Great band, I wished I could have heard a longer set but some ass picked a fight with the lead singer and a fight broke out… damn it!
Join the CVLT
