music and place, part 2.
A while ago, when I was waist-deep into photography, I liked shooting live bands. I took a handful of nice shots and started showing my work around.
So when Neurosis -- a band I really love -- played in Baltimore, I got in touch with their manager and got permission to shoot the show. This would be the second Neurosis show I had photographed. In exchange for letting me shoot, I gave their management permission to use the photos in the press.
I never shot bands with a flash. I like a lot of Glen Friedman's work but I always felt like he was cheating a little shooting with a flash. I shot TMZ pushed to 6400 with an f/1.2 lens wide open. I had to work really hard to focus and the shots were grainy, but if you nailed a shot it was beautiful.
Neurosis plays on a very dark stage. I had to be pretty patient if I had any hope of getting a few sharp images.
So I'm up front at Fletcher's in Baltimore and Neurosis is amazing as usual. I watch a lot of the show through the viewfinder, waiting for the right moments -- because this is band that has distinct moments -- and I take a few shots.
About four songs in, Steve Von Till leans down to me and says "listen, I'm getting pretty tired of seeing myself in your lens". I said alright and backed off, moved over to the other side of the stage. Thinking about it now, he was right; who wants to look down and see a fucking photographer for an entire show?
But that was it. For some reason that moment totally deflated me, and that was pretty much the last show I shot. That was November 1999.
What's weird is that I haven't listened to Neurosis much since. I can't quite separate the event from the music.