Some of my roommates and friends dressed as iconic musicians and singers for Halloween. Alyssa Leicht took absurdly good photos of us, and we shot a few behind-the-scenes photos with disposable cameras.
Steven Tyler
David Bowie
Bob Dylan
Johnny Marr
Kurt Cobain
Willie Nelson
For Halloween a crew of us went as iconic male musicians and singers. I was Bob Dylan (just look at literally any photo of my hair), Esther was Steven Tyler, Eden was David Bowie, Emma was Willie Nelson, and Blake was Johnny Marr. Since Blake and my outfits were super simple, once I messed up his hair and painted his nails, we had time and took a few photos in one of the empty rooms in the Carpenter House.
We called ourselves Prairie Pirates and all wore black jeans and brown boots and flannel shirts and set off on foot across the Midwest. We braved water and thorns and trees and got lost once, but we made it back, all in one piece. A rather successful fall morning adventure.
This is how I feel about running around outside. Tanner took all the photos that I'm in.
Most of the photos are in chronological order.
More and more often, when I'm documenting my "real life" (read: not client work), I'll use disposable cameras. I can stick one in my pocket and I don't have to worry about it if I fall in the water (I tripped and almost did). They're not as "high quality" images, but sometimes I like them better because they feel more like the moments that happened and I want to remember those feelings rather than perfect pictures, you know?
For Blake's sake, I won't caption every photo with Taylor Swift lyrics, but you better believe that this fringe jacket hardcore reminds me of that gal. Last night, Blake and I met up downtown, hung out for a bit, then explored Des Moines at night.
In highschool and even a little into college, I had time to scour myspace and Facebook and Pure Volume and find new music. The older I get, the more life demands my time and the less time I have to wander the internet for new songs. A few of my younger friends have been lovely and recommended new music to me so I stay moderately relevant, but rarely do I find artists myself anymore.
Somehow around April, I stumbled across James Bay. Perhaps I’d heard a song on the radio and spontaneously decided to listen to the entire album. However it happened, I discovered him and as a result, his music is quite endearing to me.
For the seven months I processed claims, I listened to music in my cubicle from 7:25am to 4pm. James Bay’s The Chaos and the Calm became how I woke up; it was my first cup of coffee in the morning. I’d fill my french press with water and coffee from the last city I’d visited and I’d begin that album. Sometimes once-through, sometimes until noon.
Shooting James was on my photography bucket list. Between his music and his general photogenic-ness (he models for Burberry), I hoped to shoot his show someday. And I still hope to get portraits of him.
As of the Friday morning prior to the Saturday night show in Kansas City, my friend Brittany and I only had tickets. I didn’t have a photo pass and I was still pretty content with that. I would dance and sing every single word and it would be beautiful. By 2pm on that same Friday, I’d received an email confirming a photo pass. Undeserved and grateful.
That Saturday night I was the only one in the photo pit during James Bay’s set. The only one. In a giant theatre of beautiful faces and delicate melodies and deep feelings, I was right there in the middle of it. The night was poetry and if I can even do a fraction of justice in illustrating that poetry, I’ll be satisfied.
Grateful and full of words. Thank you.
Transviolet opened for LANY and it's been quite some time since I've been that blown away by an opening band. Frontwoman Sarah danced across stage, flinging her thick curly hair back and forth. The stage lights reflected off her hair and the guitars and the whole performance was engaging and mesmerizing.
If you haven't ever listened to Joseph, jump on the bandwagon before it leaves, because these gals are lovely and talented and even wear great denim. I have few regrets in life, but one of them is not seeing them at a house show a year or two ago. Not about to make the same mistake again, we arrived at the Midland early enough to both see and shoot Joseph. Catch them on tour sometime or check out their new album: I'm Alone, No You're Not. Thanks, ladies, for a lovely evening and for letting me shoot your set!
These photos are from LANY's show in Omaha last night. I never should have been there and I shouldn't have been shooting. It's a good story.
There are a few bands on my short list to shoot in the near future. Folks like the 1975, James Bay, and Troye Sivan. And LANY. But I didn't have any luck with a photo pass on LANY's Kinda Tour but I decided to go anyhow. By myself. To sing and dance and wear denim and generally make a fool of myself in the best way.
Upon hearing I was going to a show, my boss let me off work early. Who does that? Only nicest humans. Driving straight from work, I got to the venue 3 minutes after the first band started. My backpack slung over my shoulder, I entered the dim room and realized 3 things: they didn't check my bag, there was little security, and there was no photo pit. Which meant I could probably shoot from the crowd. I booked it back to my car to retrieve my camera. I posted up on the right side of the room, one hand clutching my camera, one hand clutching my prism, sort of close to the front.
In front of me was a dad-of-a-teenager aged fellow and when I pulled my camera out, he motioned that I could stand where he was: right next to the stage. And he let me stand there the entire show. Where I shot with my camera. Totally unexpected and entirely grateful. Undeserved.
Due to my inability to move around, most of my shots are of Paul and Les and from similar angles (sorry, Jake!), but I would be a fool to be disappointed. I didn't expect to get to shoot the tour at all and here I was in the front row with my camera. Grateful, insanely grateful.
LANY, you were lovely. I like you lots.
