Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
September 21st, 1979. Forty years ago, British rock photographer, Pennie Smith immortalized the destruction of a Fender P-Bass guitar by Paul Simonon of The Clash on the stage of The Palladium in New York City, on gorgeous B&W 35mm film.
Her soft-focus, grainy image with its blown-out highlights and development stains has been dubbed by numerous publications and music fans, “the Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Photograph of All-Time.”
After teaming up with Lenny Kravitz to launch the M Monochrome “Drifter,” Leica is bringing rock ‘n’ roll and photography together once again. This time, it’s an homage to Andy Summer’s work. Other than being known for his music (both solo and as a member of The Police), Summers is also a fantastic photographer. So, Leica has decided to launch a $15K limited-edition camera for all Summers’ fans.
It’s happened before that musicians get fed up with people who watch a concert through their smartphones. This time, the frontman of punk-rock band Fidlar, Zac Carper, fought against it. Quite literally. As a fan jumped onstage and tried taking a selfie, Carper slapped the phone right out of her hand, sending it into the crowd.
Light painting gives you plenty of possibilities to create colorful and trippy images. The team behind Wango Tango Music Festival wanted photos like this for its performers, so they invited Jason D. Page to help them turn their idea into reality. They had to work fast and managed to take 50 celebrity light painting portraits – each of them in a single take! Jason has shared some of these photos with us, along with the backstory of how they were made.
If you’re an avid concert goer and a photographer, you may want to bring your two passions together. And if this is the case, Rachel and Daniel of Mango Street have a perfect video for you. In about four minutes, they give you plenty of tips to get you started with concert photography. And it’s not just about gear and shooting – but also about getting the pass and editing the photos after you bring them home.
The agreement required to cover Ariana Grande’s Sweetener tour has made photographers mad. The agreement requires them to transfer their copyright of the concert images to Grande’s tour company. And if photographers wish to use their own photos, they need to ask for written permission from the performer in advance. Because of this and several other terms, The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), along with 15 other press groups, is protesting against the agreement.
I love creative music videos and stop-motion movies, and we’ve featured quite a lot of both here on DIYP. Still, it looks like directors always find new ways to amaze us. The video for a song UnAmerican by Said The Whale brings music, creativity, and stop-motion together in a fantastic way. It seems like it was made with visual effects, but no – there are no effects whatsoever. The video was made using only physical, printed photos. Over 2,000 of them!
When broadcasting live on Facebook, there’s a short lag between your recording and the video being broadcasted. Musicians from a band The Academic used this lag to their advantage. They played the instruments in their song “Bear Claws” to create a video loop. Because of the lag, the instruments form the song layer by layer, while the trippy visual tunnel grows in the background. It’s amazing how something so simple creates something so enjoyable to watch.
Gender inequality is still present in many aspects of our society. The same goes for photography industry, and this has made a renowned music photographer quit it. London-based photographer Sarah Ginn has recently announced her decision to leave music photography. The reason – misogyny and bullying she faced from her peers.
Sarah has been the resident photographer for the nightclub Fabric for ten years. However, the events from past three years forced to make the tough decision and quit music photography.
Recently I had the opportunity to photograph an incredibly talented trumpeter by the name of Spencer Ludwig. You’ve definitely heard his song ’Diggy’ in all of the Target commercials lately, and he’s currently touring throughout North America kicking out the jams.
After some emailing back and forth we decided that the best spot to shoot Spencer would be at the hotel where he was staying, following his show that night in Denver. Hotels aren’t usually the most interesting places to shoot in, but I knew with some scouting that ideas would come together eventually.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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