HOW DID YOU GET STARTED AS A
PHOTOGRAPHER?
I think I’ve always been a visual person, and
photography is a natural extension of that.
My parents gave me a camera for my 21st
birthday. The camera wasn’t anything special,
but it did kick start my passion for exploring
my perspective on the world visually. This
was back when I was living in Australia. I
didn’t really start to take it seriously until I
moved to Seattle. I was enamoured with how
beautiful this part of the world is, and wanted
photographs to remember it by. When I
couldn’t find any images that spoke to me
about how I wanted to remember this part of
the world, I decided I should make my own.
WHAT DREW YOU TOWARDS MUSIC
PHOTOGRAPHY?
I’ve always had an ear for music. I love
listening to it and hearing the story that
the musician is trying to tell. It’s also kind
of amazing that you don’t even need to
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understand the lyrics to understand the
story. People hear the music and implicitly
understand and react to the sound they’re
hearing. I began to photograph it after I
discovered that my path in photography was
trending towards visual storytelling, and I
realised that musicians were trying to do the
same thing, but aurally instead of visually.
HOW MUCH DO YOU WORK WITH A
BAND TO ORGANIZE A SHOOT, OR DO
YOU EVER JUST SHOW UP ON YOUR
OWN?
The short answer is - it varies. I almost never
work directly with a band unless I know
someone in the band. Most of the time, I’m
either working with the band’s press contact,
or I just show up and plan to shoot for
myself. Getting access to shoot through the
press contact means getting in with a photo
pass, and that usually comes with photo
pit access in front of the front row. Getting
the photopass is something I usually try to
organize a couple of months before the show.