I would say there are three areas of the arts that intersect to form me: graphic design, music, and photography. During the day, I am hunched over a desktop computer designing logos and posters and fliers and billboards and anything you could ever see that required some kind of design. At night you may find me in the pit of an auditorium, uncomfortably contorted in front of a lively musician so to get the photo I want. That’s what this blog is about. It’s about the music I hear, the photos I make, and my experiences doing what I love even when I sometimes don’t.
I didn’t always know I wanted to be a music photographer. As a matter of fact, it’s a relatively new feeling for me. And by that, I mean actually having a photographic niche. I’ve been taking photos for as long as I can remember. I got my first camera, a Kodak point-and-shoot as a Christmas gift in 2002. Since then, I’ve been questing for the niche of photography I belong in. My college professors all said my photography was surface level, and to some extent I always knew they were right. That’s because, while I could see the beauty in a properly composed landscape or still life, something about my photography was always lacking. They were lacking intimacy and life, and most importantly, a genuine passion. That’s not to say that I don’t love taking portraits or landscapes or still life photos or travel photos, because I do. But they weren’t really where my heart was.
In 2016 that all changed. As a music lover, I love discovering new music–especially when they are small indie bands. My friend and I went to Boston to see these two small indie bands we discovered that summer before perform back-to-back at Brighton Music Hall. We went to see Icelandic rock band Kaleo on Friday and on Saturday we saw Bay-Area pop-rock band Finish Ticket. Standing front row for both shows, this was the first time I’d ever been up close to a band. It was from this vantage point that for the first time I was able to see the photographers, clad in all black and sweat-soaked, darting in and out of the pit. It had never occurred to me until just that moment that one could marry their love of music and their love of photography. From that front row position, I took out my phone and started snapping away.
I graduated from plain old phone photos to adding lenses to my phone for better, more zoomed in photos. Eventually I started to sneak my DSLR into other shows. Honestly, those photos were crap. I didn’t have the right kind of equipment, but I loved every second of it. I built up a small portfolio of decent cell phone photos and some DSLR ones.
However, my life changed in early 2017. I suffered a life-altering knee injury. My life felt very gray after that. There were suddenly a lot of things I wasn’t able to do. But I needed something to make my life better again. Something to make me feel normal again. Something to look forward to even if I had to wear a bulky metal leg brace the rest of my life to make sure my knee remains in its rightful place.
I caught my first break in late 2017, when local rockstar musician Moriah Formica announced that she was going to play a show at a local venue. I had just graduated from knee immobilizer (one which constantly fell off my leg and hindered my endurance) to my custom-fit permanent leg accessory. Moriah had become a bit of a local celebrity, being in the middle of a season of NBC’s The Voice which was heavy-laden with some serious vocal talent. I reached out to her team, asking for a chance to help out the band and expand my portfolio. Before I knew it, I was in. My very first time being on “The List.” My very first time being backstage. My very first time shooting as a professional music photographer. I owe a lot to Moriah and her family and her band. They have been nothing but amazing to share their time and trust with me time and time again. But many shows later, barely two years later, I’ve expanded my portfolio exponentially and I can’t wait for each new gig I fin
I’m not going to detail every show I’ve shot since then. Those will be future entries for rainy days and lapses in shows. So now you know where I’ve started, and I’ve no plans to find out where I end.
Thanks for reading. Catch you next time.
Elissa