Most people don’t know this, but back before I started photographing weddings, corporate events and portraits, I used to photograph lots of bands. Many of my friends were musicians, and I lived in a warehouse in West Philadelphia called Killtime, that was one of the hubs for Philadelphia’s underground music scene in the 90’s.
I adore music and I always enjoyed trying to capture the energy and feeling of a live performance in still images. Funny how all these years later, it’s the thrill of capturing a moments that have feeling that I enjoy most, regardless of whether it’s during a wedding, a mitzvah or a corporate event.
I had the opportunity to hone my craft and capture images of lots of great (and some not so great!) bands, and soon I was being asked by labels and magazines to take images for them. I absolutely loved doing it, but I had a young son and a family to support and the hours were long, and the pay not so great… so over time I slowly stopped as my photography career took me in other directions.
Over the years I’d get to photograph a handful of bands here and there, mostly when a friends band would be playing in town that were able to get me a photo pass. But I always have the best time doing it and I would often wish that I was able to do it more often. So in 2020 I’m going to make it a point to photograph more bands again!
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph Living Colour who I listen to when I was in high school in the late 80’s to early 90’s. I always loved their energy, musicianship the social commentary they wove into their songs.
Here are a few images from that show…
Enjoy,
Todd
