Behind the Lens

FEATURE
FEATURE
Amen to that Karl!
Are you neutral with the bands you shoot in
terms of excitement their work? What bands have
you been turned on to via your work? Have you
ever lost interest in a band because either they
were terrible live or you had a bad experience
photographing them? I’ll never go see Greg Dulli
of the Afghan Whigs again because he was such
an asshole to me at a show we were trying to
cover.
I am very neutral with bands, and I mean that in a
good way. I actually am so focused on the visual
that I turn off my conscious hearing; but my subconscious
hearing is still there. I want to make sure
the subject is in razor sharp focus and that I have a
great composition; I have no time to listen to melodies.
If a band or solo artist captivates the crowd and are
great performers that always makes for a great image.
However, if someone was to ask me ‘What song did
the band open with?’ I have no idea at all!
I heard Spearhead and Taylor Momsen the first time
when I went to shoot them. Now when either are in
town I will go see them and I have become a big fan
of their music. But I never would have discovered
them if I didn’t have a photo assignment first.
Have you ever been injured on a shoot? Hit by
stuff flying off the stage? Mobbed by angry fans?
Blown up by flash pots? That almost happened
to me in the 80s shooting Triumph – yikes!
There was a time in 2006 when I was shooting the
Rolling Stones in the worlds largest concert of 1.4
million people on the Copacabana Beach in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil. Fans were climbing over the
barricades into our section and the security guards
couldn’t stop them because there were too many
people doing it at the same time. I was forced to
leave the pit and protect my gear and oh yeah my
life, retreating back to my hotel that overlooked
the concert venue. I was fine and enjoyed the end
of the show from the safety of the hotel’s roof. In
retrospect, had I not been forced back to my hotel
before the concert was over I may not have ever
made it back in one piece. I was lucky on that one.
Has your photography led to any
personal relationships with the
musicians that you can discuss?
Have any of them purchased your
work for their homes?
I was at a party at Slash’s house once
in a hallway leading to a bathroom
behind his kitchen; noticing all the
personal photos he had of his family
up on the wall on this back section
of his huge home and realized he
didn’t have any work related images
here. Just personal images of him
walking on the beach with his sons,
or his sons riding their bikes. When I
got to the end of the hallway I noticed
he had a shot I recognized of him
holding his son London at 18 months
old or so with London looking right
at camera with a bright red pacifier
his mouth and Slash himself looking
out a doorway in black leather pants
held up by handcuffs as a belt with a
strong window light on his face.
Then I realized it was a print that I had
given him, that I took during a break
after a music video shoot. And made
me think of the millions of photos he
must have given to him or taken himself
he chose my image to hang in
his section of personal favorites and I
think me discovering that on my own
rather then Slash or some else showing
or telling me about it has really
stood in my head that I finally have
made it as a photographer.
Who’s the most unlikely person
you sold or given one of your
photos to?
I got a chance to give President Barrack
Obama a print from his original
inauguration which I was quite proud
of getting a chance to do so.
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74 TONE AUDIO NO.75
November 2015 75