Working with creative people, particularly musicians, is always a pleasure.  It often feels more like a collaboration of creative ideas, rather than a strict brief.  I met up with Brisbane singer/songwriter Scott Spark, to discuss his new album and the imagery he wanted to back it.  We talked about a few themes and locations that he felt would suit best.  Eventually, we decided on two locations, both indoor and out.  Here are some of my favourite shots from the shoot.

Scott’s album, “Fail Like You Mean It” is due for release in August.  For a preview, you can check out his stuff here: http://scottspark.bandcamp.com and on iTunes.

Following a few busy months since my last BNE project shoot, I met up with John Davis a guitar repairer based up in Red Hill in Brisbane.  For those unfamiliar with the project, every person selected for the BNE project is chosen by a previous BNE participant.  John Davis was selected as the inspiration of one of my early BNE portraits, Dan from Dan and Dilmah.

I caught up with John a few days before the shoot at his store and spent a few hours chatting and observing, amongst a constant influx of passionate guitar lovers frequenting the store.  One of the things I noticed about John is that when he was working, he was constantly in motion.  Whether it was chatting to three customers at once or restringing a guitar, the man is always on the move!  I came back a few days later and despite having scheduled the shoot after hours to avoid interruptions, John was still juggling customers and fixing guitars into the night.  This passion for his work, people, and guitars is something I really wanted to capture with this shoot.

I recently did a shoot for Hailey Calvert, an incredibly talented Brisbane singer-songwriter.  We set out to shoot a few different locations based on some of Hailey’s inspirations and tell the story of her and her music.  You can check out some of Hailey’s music here: myspace.com/haileycalvert.
Here are a few of my favourite shots:

Last month I had a photo shoot with Gold Coast band Hobo Obituaries.  I was told they had a space where they did all their recording and spent most of their time hanging out, and although I hadn’t seen it until the day, was pretty sure it would make for some interesting photos.  I approached the shoot with a few fairly loose ideas, but with the main intention of just capturing the brothers being themselves in their own environment.  From Jack Russells to low rider bicycles we had a lot of fun incorporating as much of their lives into the shoot.  It really reinforced my view of working with people to achieve something fun and real, rather than just directing them.

Video from the shoot:

Last night I attended the preview opening of ‘Underexposed’ an exhibition showcasing some amazing live band photography from Brisbane Photographers.  With well over a dozen photographers, such as Dane Beesley, Kylie Keene and Elleni Toumpas showcasing their work, the walls were filled with hundreds of images over the last 20 years of music history.  It was great to finally meet some photographers who’s work I have seen through various street press, online and social media.  With local music from local bands and musicians the atmosphere couldn’t be more fitting.  Underexposed opens tonight at Joshua Levi Galleries in Wooloongabba and will be featuring live music in the gallery every Friday and Saturday until the end of the show.  More details and gig dates below.

UNDEREXPOSED @

JOSHUA LEVI GALLERIES

4 Ipswich Rd
Woolloongabba

April 17 – May 4 2009

LINKS

Underexposed: underexposed.com.au
Joshua Levi Galleries: joshualevigalleries.com.au
Facebook: facebook.com/event.php?eid=64634172081

GIGS

Tickets: available here

FRI APR 17 – OPENING NIGHT

BLACK MARKET RHYTHM CO / Drawn from Bees / Tim Loydell and the Deckchairs / Banawurun / Mikki Ross & MORE SOON!

SAT APR 18

SCREAMFEEDER / My Fiction / Grand Atlantic / The Cairos / Parlour Style / Chloe Tully & MORE SOON!

FRI APR 24 – HIP HOP NIGHT

IMPOSSIBLE ODDS / 333 / XXI / TSO & MORE SOON!

SAT APR 25

VILLAINS OF WILHELM / The Bloodpoets / Davey Spicer and the Creatures of Habit / High Plains Drifter / White Mansions & MORE SOON!

FRI MAY 1

RHIANNON HART / Georgia Potter & Band / Yeo and the Fresh Goods / Mick McCombe / The Horse Darkly / Dave Di Marco & MORE SOON!

SAT MAY 2  – CLOSING NIGHT PARTY

THE TRAVELLING SO & SO’S / Blame Ringo! / The Quills / Pear and the Awkward Orchestra / Dan & Dilmah / Bernie Carson  & MORE SOON! (more…)

Some of you may remember Levi Kereama from Australian Idol, or perhaps the R&B group Lethbridge comprised of him and his brothers.  Earlier this year I shot the promotional photography for their latest reincarnation, The Bridge.  Starting out at Alhambra Lounge in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, we worked the club and headed out to a familiar location where I did the photography for Brisbane Band Dan & Dilmah.  With a perfect sky and beautiful clouds, I couldn’t have been happier with the results.

February 13th marked the official launch party of Australia’s dedicated music distributors, Musicadium. With live bands, a great atmosphere and held at one of Brisbane’s best live music venues, the launch party was a huge success.

Ranger

Frankie Band / (now Polaroid Fame)

The Westminsters

Were you there?

More of my shots from the night and social pics can be found on the Musicadium Flickr Page.

Playing live gigs , recording, and of course, getting their photo taken, Brisbane band Mr. Rascal have been a busy bunch. With a single launch coming up next week, I worked with the band on photos from a live shoot as well as on location, up in the hills of Brisbane. Much like shooting a band live, it’s always a thrill working outdoors in an uncontrolled environment. With the shoot scheduled for sunset, time of day and weather were the all important variables. We made the most of the overcast sky, and in the dying light, shot a range of different locations. You can see more photos from both shoots on the band’s profile on myspace. Also, be sure to check out their newly uploaded tracks.

The single launch will held at 8pm on the 13th of February at The Troubadour and to top off the night, make sure you make your way to The Zoo afterwards for the Musicadium Launch Party featuring more live music from Ranger, The Westminsters, and The Frankie Band!

For the last few weeks Brisbane based duo ‘Dan and Dilmah’ have been topping Australian radio station, Triple J’s ‘unearthed’ charts, hitting the number one spot in both the ‘overall’ and ‘indie’ categories. I was recently approached by Dan to work on the photography for their press kit and was keen to get on board.

We started the day with a relatively blank slate, but with one intention, to capture the light hearted fun reflected in Dan and Dilmah’s music. With one concept inspiring the next, we went off with a range of different styles.  I’ve settled on uploading a shot of Dan body slamming Dilmah. The aftermath wasn’t pretty so I won’t post those… only kidding, a quick thinking Dilmah countered with an uppercut the the left shin and was fine.

You can check out Dan and Dilmah’s page on the unearthed site here. Have a listen to their track ‘awkard turtle’ and if you love it, pop them a comment or vote to keep them in the charts.